


The Dalton Deception

by YourPinkDiary



Category: Glee
Genre: Dalton Academy, Family Drama, Future Fic, Humor, M/M, New York, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-05-16
Packaged: 2017-12-06 20:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourPinkDiary/pseuds/YourPinkDiary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started off as a fairy tale, they got each other, they got married, they got two beautiful twin girls. And then it all fell apart. Blaine took Lydia and Kurt took Grace and that was supposed to be it. And it almost was. Until the two girls meet at school and realise that their Dad's were happiest together. So they come up with a plan. Parent Trap!Klaine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I've been posting this on fanfiction.net, but finally signed up here, so I thought I'd post this story. I'll be posting a character every second day until it's caught up at which time I'll post as I update.

Maybe it was the underlying tension. The unresolved issue that sat below the surface, never spoken about, just existing, bubbling up until they split over and everything exploded. Maybe it was that it was just never supposed to work no matter how much they wanted it to. Maybe they were just too young. They didn't know how to deal with it, so they didn't. They both agreed to a clean split right down the middle, half and half in everything. Including their two little girls. Many said it was cruel of them to separate the two. But they didn't know how else to do it. They loved their daughters, but weren't ready to deal with seeing each other again just yet. Or to be civilised to each other for their sake. It was the only thing they could think to do that didn't leave one of them with an aching hole in his heart where two little girls should be. They both still had a hole, but it was a little smaller, thanks to the bright, blue-eyed daughter they still had.

And it had been done. The papers signed, the house sold, the girls... separated They would never see each other again. Wouldn't have to deal with the pain of witnessing him move on. Just like that eight years were over. They were no longer 'KurtandBlaine'. After eight years, they were just Kurt. And Blaine.

Until fourteen and a half years later.

Because they both got the same newsletter, the Dalton alumni one. Informing them that Dalton had made an innovating change and for the first time were going to allow girls to enroll. And they both thought Dalton would be the perfect place for their daughter.

 


	2. Lydia

Lydia stared back at her sullen expression. She hated navy blue. Hated it. It was such a dull colour. Tacky too... why not go a few shades darker and just go black? At least black was a little classier and classic, and didn't clash with her blonde tipped hair as much.

She'd done her best with the uniform, but it was still awful. She'd taken the blazer in at the waist to give her body some sort of definition, had shortened the skirt to sit a little higher (that paired with the small-heel shoes made her legs look longer), and the tie... well, she'd tried to throw it out but her dad had caught her. Navy and red striped? It was so utterly school-uniform cliché, it made her nearly want to vomit.

There was a knock on the door and before she could respond her dad stuck his head into the room.

'Dad!' she exclaimed. 'How many times to I have to tell you, it's knock, wait for response, then come in. Not knock and come barging in straight away. I could have been naked.'

'Nothing I haven't seen before.' He shrugged.

'Ok, one, I know for a fact you haven't seen me undressed since I was five, and two, you're gay. Since when have you seen a naked woman?'

He shrugged. 'You'd be surprised how comfortable girls can be as soon as they know you're oogling their boyfriend's biceps and not their boobs.'

'Way TMI. That's gross.'

'You're telling me.' He made a face. 'Anyway, I came to see if you were ready, the car is packed with all of your stuff. You look stunning by the way.'

'The navy clashes with my hair.'

Her father shook his head. 'No, it doesn't. It brings out the blue in your eyes. You look...' he trailed off, his eyes going distant at a far off memory.

'What?'

He blinked and shook his head. 'Nothing, never mind. You look great. But we better get going.'

'You can still change your mind about sending me.' She gave him a hopeful look.

'Lyds, I told you, Dalton was some of the best years of my life. I want you to experience the same thing.'

'You didn't even graduate from there, you transferred.'

'If after a month you still really hate it we can have a look at some other schools.'

'That don't have uniforms.'

'We'll see.'

Lydia Anderson loved her father, she really did. It had been just the two of them her entire life so it was impossible for her to not love him dearly and thank her lucky stars that she got him as a dad and not someone else. But he just didn't get her need to express herself through clothing. Even though he wouldn't be caught dead out in public without a stupid bowtie ('leave them in the 1950's dad' she'd said a thousand times), he just didn't seem to get it. That was her biggest protest to being sent away to Dalton. Second was that it was a boarding school. She kind of resented that too. She didn't want to share a room with a stranger; she didn't want to be away from her dad for weeks at a time. She never told him this, but she cried the night he told her she was going to go there. It felt like he'd just had enough of her and wanted to just get rid of her. It hadn't escaped her attention he'd attempted to date more recently (he kept calling them business meetings, but who has business meetings at 7pm on a Friday night?), it was kind of obvious he didn't want his sixteen year old daughter hanging around ruining his game.

She was happy he was dating. She just didn't get why that meant getting rid of her. She'd always been able to tell he was a bit lonely. He didn't talk about his past much, but her uncle told her that when he was a teenager he'd had a quote 'epic' romance with someone. They'd actually been married. And it was how she came to be about (or adopted, she supposed, she didn't look much like her dad at all, he'd never out rightly said it and it didn't bother her, it was just fairly obvious that she was). She didn't know exactly why the other man hadn't wanted anything to do with her after the divorce (it wasn't like she remembered him, she'd been about six months old at the time). But she didn't care. She just knew she needed to find a way to let her dad know she was ok with him dating again if meant he'd be happier. He didn't need to send her away.

The two hour drive to Westerville went by in silence, only the sound of radio filled the car. They didn't talk at all. They pulled into the car park and Lydia glanced over to see a stupid, sappy grin on her dad's face.

'What's with the dopey look?' she asked him.

'What?' He looked over at her. 'Oh nothing... I just have a lot of memories here. That's all.'

'Ok... whatever.'

'Come on, let's go.' The excited smile didn't leave his face as he all but jumped out of the car and bounded to the admin office.

Lydia rolled her eyes and quickly followed after him.

'Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson, this is my daughter Lydia. She's a new student.'

The receptionist's eyes went wide. 'Wait, Blaine Anderson, as in... lead singer of The Warblers circa 2010?'

'Uh... yes,' He blushed. 'That's me.'

Lydia stared at him. 'Who areyou?'

'You're a legend here.' The young woman gasped. 'The Warblers are still trying to their 'new Blaine Anderson'. You've gone down in history.'

'That uh, that's flattering. Anyway, um, my daughter here is boarding so...'

'Oh! Oh yes, of course. Ok, let me just print off your class schedule for you, and a map. And Cameron will be here in a minute to show you to your room. Most boarding students came yesterday to settle in, but today is also a half day, starting from third period onwards to let the students still just arriving to day get their things in order.' She looked at Blaine. 'Because allthe girls are new this year we've enlisted some of our more responsible senior boys to show the girls around the place when they arrive. I hope that's ok. The staff are just too busy to do it.'

'If you trust them I'm sure they're upstanding gentlemen.'

'Dalton produces the best, you of course would know that.'

Blaine gave her a polite smile, while Lydia stood there blatantly rolling her eyes. He elbowed his daughter in the arm and gave her a stern look.

'Miss Carington? I'm here to show the new student around.' A seventeen year old boy stepped into the office. His uniform looked firmly pressed, and in place, and his hair was immaculate. He had a bright smile of his face and Blaine couldn't help but grin. Dalton boys were exactly the same now as they were twenty years ago.

'Oh yes, excellent. Cameron, this is Blaine Anderson,' a little thrill ran through her voice as she said his name. 'And his daughter, Lydia.'

'Mr Anderson, absolute pleasure to meet you. You're a legend.' Cameron gripped Blaine's hand in a firm handshake. 'And Lydia, I sincerely hope you enjoy it here, it's a big change, allowing girls here for the first time. But I say embrace change, it's a good thing, no point being stuck centuries in the past. Have you got your things? Let's show you to your room.'

'Her things are in the car, I was hoping we could get them along the way?'

'Yes, of course.'

She'd only packed one suitcase (it was a big suitcase though) and a small duffle bag. Considering 90% of the time she'd be wearing the school uniform, she'd only packed a small portion of her wardrobe. Plus she'd be going home for the weekend in a couple of weeks, she could bring more clothes back then. She followed quietly behind her dad and Cameron as they chatted about Blaine's 'glory days' as the lead singer of the school's a capella group. Music was where her dad was most disappointed in her. He lived for it... she couldn't care less. As long as it was an up tempo beat and fun to dance to she was good. She didn't care for performing, or playing music. She'd had piano lessons for three years and hated every second of it.

They walked through the school, down a winding staircase, through more of the school, until they were back outside and heading towards a nearby building. Her dad turned to her.

'What do you think so far Lyds?'

She shrugged. 'It's kind of what Hogwarts would look like if it wasn't a castle, and was in America... and actually existed.'

'And like Hogwarts there are many magical things here at Dalton.'

Lydia frowned at her dad and decided that not commenting was the better option.

'These are the girls' dorms. It's brand new, so all the facilities should be in tip-top condition.'

'Wonderful.' Lydia muttered.

Cameron opened the door and let them in.

'Usually there'll be a strict no male policy in place, and vice-versa with the boys dorms. However myself and a select few others have special permission for yesterday and today to show you new kids around.'

The building had a long narrow corridor, with a flight of stairs up at the end. They followed Cameron down the corridor until they stopped at a room with a brass '6A' on it. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. 'Inside were two beds against either wall, one was white and plain, the other had a floral print bed cover on it, as well as a half empty suit case sitting, open on top. But there was no one in the room.

'It appears your roommate is out for the moment. Well, this is it, you have your schedule right?'

She nodded.

'Good, good. I'll leave you to it then. There'll be a meeting for all the girls boarding tonight in the auditorium, where they'll give you more of a rundown of things. In the meantime feel free to find me for any questions you might have and I hope you enjoy it here at Dalton.'

'Aright then.'

'Great to meet you Cameron.'

'You too Mr Anderson, wait til the boys hear I met you, they'll be so excited.'

He left shortly after that. Lydia threw her bag down onto her bed and sighed. 'Please do not tell me everyone here is like that.'

'Like what?'

'All... chirpy and happy all the time. It gives me a headache.'

'Lydia,' Blaine sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. 'Please tell me you'll try and enjoy yourself here?'

She looked at him before leaning her head against his shoulder. 'I'll make an attempt.'

'Thank you. I promise you, this school can be really great.'

She didn't respond.

'Just give it a chance.'

'I will. I just... I'll try to.'

'And you'll call me everyday.'

'Every single one.'

'Good.' Blaine wrapped his around her shoulders and she quickly responded by hugging him tightly around the waist. 'I'd love to stay to help you get settled in but I couldn't get the afternoon off work.'

'Call in sick.'

'I can't. I have to go. But... I'll see you in couple of weeks.'

She nodded against his shoulder. 'I'll miss you daddy.' She whispered quietly.

'I'll miss you too honey. So much.' He kissed the top of her head and got up from the bed. Lydia just let herself fall so she was lying sideways. She waited until she heard him close the door behind him.

'Then why are you leaving me here?'


	3. Grace

'Grace!'

The brunette girl almost dropped the guitar she was strumming in surprise at the loud, sudden interruption. She looked up to see her Dad had just come into the room.

'Dad, you scared me.'

'I only called your name about five times before coming in. We have to go. Why aren't you dressed? Hurry up.'

Grace looked up at the clock on the wall and gasped. 'I wasn't paying attention to the time.'

'Clearly. I'll pack your guitar in its case and put everything in the car, you go and put your uniform on. Think we can be ready to leave in five minutes?'

'Dad, I'm not you… I can get dressed in three minutes. That way we still have time to say a proper goodbye to Nan and Pop.' She said. She rested her guitar on the bed and picked up the school uniform her dad had hung neatly on a hanger the night before (after carefully ironing it) and disappeared into the room's adjoining bathroom.

The uniform fit her like a glove, thanks to her dad's skills (sometimes it helped having a fashion designer for a father), he'd taken it in where it had been a little loose and let it out where it had been tight, until the uniform looked perfect. 'You'll be the best dressed girl there, even though you're all wearing the same thing doesn't mean you can't stand out.' He'd told her as he'd been pinning it in place two days before.

Just as she'd said, Grace emerged from the bathroom, uniform on and hair tied back into a neat ponytail, just a few minutes later. Her dad was no longer in the room, neither was her guitar, so she ventured down the stairs, where she found her small family waiting around in the living room. Her dad spotted her and gasped in delight.

'Darling, you look stunning in that uniform.'

She bit her lip and gave a small smile. 'Are you sure?'

'I never tell a lie when it comes to clothes.'

She laughed. 'I suppose that's true.'

'You do look beautiful Grace.' Her Nan said with a soft smile of her face.

'It's just a school uniform guy's. It's not like I just walked down here in my prom dress or anything.'

'Alright, well, we really have to get going if we're going to make it there on time. She actually does have some classes today.' Her dad reminded them all.

'In that case, come and give your old Pop a hug.'

Burt Hummel held his arms out and Grace ran over to him wrapping her arms around him. Given that they (they being her and her dad) lived in New York, while her grandparents were in Ohio she didn't get to see them much. They'd spent the last week of her summer holidays in Ohio though, which had been more fun than she'd expected it to be. Especially given that her Pop was determined, much to her father's dismay, to spoil her rotten. She hadn't had a problem with it and had accepted all the gifts and ice cream more than happily.

'I'll miss you Pop.' She said.

'What she really means is, she'll miss your generous wallet.' Her dad said from just behind them.

'Daddy, sshh, you're ruining the moment.' She said.

Burt just laughed and gave his granddaughter one last squeeze before letting her go.

'You be good at school kiddo. And if anyone gives you a hard time I'm only a couple of hours away. Call me and I'll come over and give them a talking to.'

'Dad, it's Dalton… they still have a no tolerance policy.'

'I'll be good Pop, I promise.'

'Good.'

Grace pulled away and turned to her Nan, she gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. 'Your cooking has been so good. Thank you.'

Carole glanced over at Kurt and gave him a warm smile. 'You've raised this girl well, Kurt.' She said.

'Of course, the father get's all the credit for the well-behaved child.' Grace said with a laugh.

'Alright, I hate to do this but we really have to get going if we're going to make it on time.'

Grace gave her Nan and Pop one final goodbye before walking out to the car, mentally checking through her head that she had everything she needed for at least her first few weeks of school. All her books would be waiting in her dorm room for her, she had her uniform, and she had her guitar. She wasn't too sure what else she could possibly need, except all the extra outfits her Dad had helped her pack, she'd protested against them at first, because while they might have been great for New York, she was now in Ohio, and really didn't want to stand out too much... but she also knew he'd spent a lot of money on buying her the best of the best so in the end agreed to take them with her.

The car ride out to Westerville consisted of Grace quickly plugging her iPod into the car's stereo and showing her dad all of her newest favourite songs and explain to him why... nothing frustrated her more than the fact that all her dad was interested in was show tunes, and pop.

'This one, the way they just slowly build the song up, it's incredible. And you know they recorded this in just one take, they didn't do the usual layering all the tracks, they were all in the studio with all the instruments. Isn't that so cool? No one does that anymore and that's why this track stands out. It's going to be a hit, I just know it, it's incredible.'

'It's a good song.' Kurt agreed.

'Dad,' Grace twisted in her seat and looked at him. 'Do you ever think about singing again?'

'Why would you ask that?' He asked.

'I don't know. Rachel always talks about how she wanted it to be the two of you on Broadway, in a unique version of Wicked were Glinda is a gay man, and Fiyero is bisexual, and you'd play Glinda, because you could still sing it in the original key, opposite her Elphaba.'

'As amazing as that would be, fashion is my calling. It just took me a little while to realise it.'

'But you can do both.'

'No, sweetie…'

'Yes! You're always telling me that I can have anything in the world that I want. So can you.'

'Why is it so important to you?'

Grace didn't answer him. A new song came on, one she didn't like as much, so she quickly switched it to the next one.

'Grace?'

'I…' She paused. 'It's going to sound so stupid.'

'I promise I won't think it is.'

'I want to be a singer.'

'That's great honey, not stupid at all.'

'I know. But when I am, I want to have the people that I love on the album, singing… I don't know… something, even just background vocals. Rachel, you… William and Sarah.'

'I don't need to be on Broadway to sing on your album.'

She brightened and sat up in her seat a little straighter. 'So that's something you would do?'

'Are you kidding me? Of course I would.'

'Good… oh! You have got to listen to this song.' She turned up the volume. 'The guy who produced it is a genius. I want him to produce one of my songs one day.'

For Kurt the drive to Dalton was scarily familiar. It had been years, close to two decades since he'd driven from Lima to Westerville, and yet he still remembered the way as though he'd just driven there yesterday. It was odd, how even with his fifteen year old daughter sitting in the car next to him, he suddenly felt like he was seventeen again, driving to school at seven in the morning, sipping at coffee and being giddy at the thought that it was another day of seeing, talking to and hanging out with…

Well, that was a long time ago and things were very different. Despite him feeling like he'd just transported back in time.

He glanced quickly at Grace, who was humming and nodding her head along to the song playing. He loved his daughter dearly, but some days… today in particular, he was reminded that there was another young girl he loved just as much. And a man who would forever own a part of his heart. And being in this part of Ohio right now was bringing the memories rushing back to the surface. More than New York, or Grace ever had. Because he was right back where it all started.

He wasn't sure why he'd chosen Dalton in the end. He'd spent months, and months looking at schools in New York. He had the money, and wanted to make sure she got the best education possible. But with every school he looked at, he found something wrong, something he didn't like. He'd thought about sending her to the same school as all of her friends… but she… didn't really have any. Not any close friends anyway. Grace was a shy, timid kid who was happiest when left alone with music. And that made Kurt sad. Because he knew what it was like to be there… and despite having been in that place before he just didn't know how to help.

Then he'd gotten the email from Dalton. Announcing that for the first time in their one hundred year history, they would be allowing girls to enrol to the school. He looked at their website… and it was the first school he couldn't find anything wrong with.

Sure, it was all the way in Ohio, but it was close to his Dad and Carole, and even Finn and his wife didn't live too far away. So she would still be near family… and that was the only negative.

So he'd sat her down and talked it through and she thought it sounded good. She was particularly excited about getting to see her grandparents more often.

And… now they were here.

'Here it is, Dalton Academy.'

'Huh…' Grace said. 'It's a lot bigger than I expected.'

'That it is.' Kurt could still remember the first time he'd set eyes upon the school. It had been so overwhelming massive he'd almost turned the car around and gone straight back to Lima. He didn't… and that turned out to be the most impacting decision of his life.

They walked up to the school's office, and ten minutes later were standing in Grace's empty dorm room, because her roommate hadn't arrived yet.

'Ok, well, I guess this is goodbye.' Kurt said.

Grace rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. 'Can't you stay a couple of days?'

'I would, but there's a winter collection with my name on it, literally, that needs to be finished and I have to fly back today.'

'You're still going to email me photos of every step of the way, right?'

'The 2031 version of the Grace Sweater needs your final approval, so of course I will… as long as you email me your new songs.'

'You already know you're the only person in the world I'll show them too… for now, until I've perfected the craft.'

Kurt squeezed her a little tighter. 'I'm going to miss you so much. The apartment will be so quiet without you.'

'Remember this was your idea.'

'You went along with it.'

'I know.' Grace pulled away from him and wiped at the tears on her face. 'I'll see you in a couple of weeks.'

'That you will,' Kurt kissed her forehead. 'Have the best time, ok sweetie?'

She nodded. 'I promise I will.'


	4. Welcome to Dalton

Lydia had been pleasantly surprised to find out that her roommate was likeable. She'd been so afraid she'd be stuck with a weirdo who was permanently attached to her ipad or something. But Sophia was nice, even is she was a little bit of a suck-up, and they were already getting along just fine. Lydia supposed it wasn't the worst thing in the world to have someone basically kissing your ass.

She'd yet to hear from her dad yet. Granted, it was only 7.30 am on her first full day at Dalton… but she'd hoped for at least a goodnight message. Which she didn't get. She shrugged it off with a 'whatever', he'd probably had another 'dinner meeting' and forgot that his daughter had just started a new school. She put her uniform on, before brushing out her hair, and tying it up into a pony.

'Oh my God, Lydia, how does your uniform look so good?' Sophia asked when she returned from the room after going and taking a shower. 'Mine looks like it's trying to eat me alive.'

Lydia shrugged. 'I've been customising my own clothes since I was six.' She looked at the way Sophia's uniform engulfed her tiny frame. 'I can fix yours tonight if you'd like.'

'Oh my God, yes, that would be amazing! Seriously yours actually makes you look really good. Also, I love your hair.'

She smiled. 'I know that balayage is a little, twenty years ago, but there's something just so classic about it. You know?'

'You're going to single-handedly bring it back… anyway, I'm starving so let's go and get breakfast.'

'Oh, you go on ahead, I'll meet you there.' Lydia said. She didn't eat breakfast unless it was one of her Dad's rare bacon and egg breakfast's. Cereal was too soggy and gross, and toast was about the blandest food on the planet. She would drink a coffee, and that would sustain her until lunch. Sophia shrugged and left her alone in the room where she sat down and sighed. She checked her phone again, there was still no message from her Dad.

'My roommate is nice, so that's one less thing to worry about. Excited to start my first day. I miss you. xo'

She slipped her phone into her pocket and grabbed her book bag she'd packed the night before and headed down to breakfast.

x x x

When Grace woke up she was starving. She actually hadn't eaten much dinner the night before because by about that time it had hit her that it would be a month until she saw her Dad again. The one person she'd seen everyday since she was born was suddenly not just three steps away, in the room across from hers. He'd called to wish her goodnight and that had helped her sleep. But it still hadn't been the same. She'd dug out a picture she'd stolen from an old photo album of his and put it on her bedside table. In the photo he was in New York (of course), at the Bryant Park ice skating rink. He wasn't looking at the camera, but was looking at another man, they were facing each other, hands joined, with huge smile's on their faces. You could actually see little crinkles in the corner of Kurt's eyes, which were lit up with a joy she personally had never seen in him.

The photo was from before she was born. She knew only because she'd never seen the man with dark, slicked down hair, thick eyebrows and the biggest smile she'd ever seen on someone. But she also knew that whoever the man was... he had been special to her dad. She was determined to find out who he was, and where he was. And maybe, if she reunited them, her Dad wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

Her stomach grumbled and she sighed, turning away from the picture and getting up just as her roommate Janelle's alarm went off. Janelle grumbled and reached blindly for her phone before hitting the snooze button and falling back asleep again. Grace shrugged and grabbed her uniform before heading to the bathrooms to get changed.

The breakfast room was buzzing with an oddly calming sound of cutlery clattering against each other and coffee machines whirling. Grace quickly helped herself to some toast before finding an empty table and sitting at it. Being alone didn't bother her. She had a feeling that it maybe sometimes bothered her Dad. But she was happiest when left on her own with her thoughts.

'Lydia, you got here really quickly, how did you get your breakfast before me when the line is so long?'

A tiny girl with blonde hair and tanned skin sat down opposite Grace who looked up from her toast in confusion.

'Anyway, I was just talking to this guy over there and, ugh, I think your uniform looks even better now, how did you get the blazer to not make you look like you have man-shoulders? But yeah, this guy over there, his name is Spencer and he's a junior Warbler, a Warbler, and I was just talking to him and he said we could join them for breakfast so come on Lyds, we need to go right now.'

'Um, I think you have me confused with-

'Sophia, what are you doing?' Another girl walked up to the table, she had a very demanding air about her as she looked steadily at the other girl.

'Lydia? But I...' Sophia turned and looked at Grace frowning. 'Um... ok... I thought she was you.'

The girl who was Lydia glanced at Grace. 'She looks nothing like me. Come on... I think I have an in with The Warblers.'

Who were the Warblers and why were they so important?

'Oh me too, I was just telling you, um, her thinking she was you about it, wasn't I?'

Grace nodded. 'Some guy named Spencer was talking to her.'

Lydia shrugged. 'Ok, whatever, let's go.'

'Did you want to come with us, um... what's your name?' Sophia asked her.

'Seriously Soph, you're just going to invite a random to come with us?' Lydia huffed.

'Grace, and, no thank you.' She gave Lydia a steely look. She didn't know why the girl immediately disliked her, but it really didn't make Grace want to be friends with her. 'Oh and you take the shoulder pads out.'

'What?' Sophia asked.

'You asked how to get the blazer to not give you man-shoulders... you take the shoulder pads out of it. And then unpick the seam and sew it back so it's not as loose, because otherwise it'll just look like your uniform is too big.'

Sophia's face lit up in a smile. 'Thanks Grace.' She turned to Lydia. 'She's cool, why can't she come with us?'

'Because I said so, now come on.'

The girl Lydia dragged Sophia away leaving Grace extremely confused about several things. For starters, how the girl Sophia had gotten them confused, maybe they both had the same almond shaped blue eyes, and round nose, but Lydia's face was clearly much sharper, and had a permanent scowl etched into it. And who the hell were The Warblers and why was it the be all and end all that Lydia and Sophia sit with them?

'Why do we have to up at the crack of dawn? I hate this.' Janelle sat herself down across from her cradling a cup of coffee, yawning wide, still with her bed hair, and her uniform slightly askew.

'It's eight o'clock, hardly the crack of dawn.'

'I became accustomed to midday sleep-ins and they've been cruelly ripped away from me. I hate life.'

'Just drink your coffee.' Grace said, just before there was a loud shout, and one table full of boys all stood up.

'Wablers.' One guy, who clearly was a senior snapped his fingers and they shuffled themselves into place. The guy who had snapped at them taking his place at the front. They started off by humming a four-note chord, before breaking into the latest teen pop song. They moved around the cafeteria, dancing, flirting with some of the girls, who watched them with wide, fascinated eyes. The lead singer had picked one girl out from the crowd and sung almost the whole song to her.

By the time they were finished the cafeteria was dead silent for about three seconds before a loud round of applause and cheering broke out.

'Oh, so... they're The Warblers.'

'And aren't they dreamy?' Janelle sighed.

x x x

'I'm so glad to hear you're making friends already. I want to hear all about your first day so call me when you can. The house is very quiet without you.'

Lydia rolled her eyes at the message. Where did she say she was making friends? She said her roommate was nice. How did that mean she was making friends? Of course, she had a feeling she'd started a very wonderful and magical 'friendship' that morning with a boy named Liam. He was only a freshman too, but he was already part of the Warblers, because his older brother Elijah was one and got him an audition early. That obviously meant he was really good, which meant he could be leading them in a year or two, which would make him the most popular boy in the school, and her the most popular girl by default, because they'd be dating by then.

So far though, she didn't like Dalton, at all. She wanted to move back to Sandusky and go to the local high school there, no matter how crap it was, where her friends were. Sophia talked, all the time, in an irritating high pitched voice. And then there was Grace.

Grace freaking Hummel who seemed to be in all of her classes. Who she'd somehow been mistaken for six times already, by teachers and other students. Grace who was the most irritating stuck up princess she'd ever met. For starters, she barely spoke to anyone, as though she was superior or something, apparently she was from New York, and that was probably why. Who the hell came to a school in Hicksville, Ohio when they lived in freaking New York City?

And they didn't even look a like. Grace's face was kind of chubby, and her nose was rounder, her ears kind of stuck out, and she very obviously needed to get her teeth whitened. It was basically an insult to have been mistaken for her so much. The only thing Grace had going for her was that her uniform fit just as well as hers did. Maybe, even though Lydia hated to admit it, even better.

Only adding to her dislike of Grace was the fact that she'd just walked into her music class, running late, only to find Grace sitting next to Liam. She'd probably caught onto the fact that people here were idiots and thought they looked the same and had tricked him into thinking she was her. She sat in the empty seat behind them, rolling her eyes when Grace giggled at something Liam said.

'I like you Grace, I'll keep you around to boost my ego.'

'Right, I've known you all of five minutes and I can already tell your ego doesn't need a boost.'

Lydia wanted to gag. Instead she tapped Liam on the shoulder. 'Hi Liam,' she smiled at him.

"Oh, hey Lydia, how are you?'

'Good, I'm great actually. I should have known you'd be taking music.'

'Yeah, no way I'd miss out on Mr Montgomery's class. Did you know he used to be head of the Warbler's Council? Back when Blaine Anderson was lead.'

Lydia perked up at her Dad's name, and her eyes glinted as she smiled, quickly seizing the opportunity.

'Funny you should mention that, Blaine Anderson is actually my Dad, and Wes, I mean, Mr Montgomery is a good family friend of ours.' It was actually the only reason she was taking music to begin with. How hard could learning a bit of theory and singing be? Plus Wes was going to give her a pass, considering she was basically his niece.

'No way, Blaine Anderson is your dad?'

She pointed to herself. 'Lydia Anderson, duh. Yes, he is.'

'Oh my god, you're a legacy. You're practically Dalton royalty. Do you happen to know why he ever left? Apparently it was because of some kind of Romeo and Juliet love affair, but no one really quite knows and-

'There will be no talking in my class unless I instruct it, young man, turn around and face the front. This is your first lesson and I assure you it will be the most important.'

Everyone sat up a little straighter and picked up their pens, ready to start. Lydia smirked, Wes was about a frightening as a kitten. It was funny to see him putting it on for the class of freshmen.

'My name is Mr Montgomery, and this is Music Theory and Practice, emphasis on the theory there. You are not here to bludge around strumming out of tune guitars all year, so if any of you think this class will be a walk in the park and picked it accordingly, you might want to speak to admin and transfer to a different subject. Are we clear?'

There was a mumbled 'yes sir.' and Wes smiled.

'Very good then. Let's get started.'

x x x

'Hello? Kurt Hummel speaking.'

'Dad?'

'Oh, Grace, hi honey, sorry I was just walking through the door and didn't check caller ID.'

Grace laughed. 'That's ok. You just got home then?'

'Yes, you know how busy this time of a collection gets. Model's were running late, pants didn't fit properly… all the usual kind of stuff.'

'Sounds like a lot of fun.'

Kurt sighed. 'Don't you know it? But enough about me, how was your first day?'

'Um, good.'

Grace could practically hear her Dad sit up a little straighter. 'You sound a little unsure.'

'Well, it's just one day. But everyone's been nice enough so far. I uh, I've actually had a couple of girls ask me to help them with their uniforms to get them to fit better.'

'I am so proud you. You're definitely Kurt Hummel's daughter.'

She laughed. 'Yeah. And my roommate is nice. A little grumpy in the morning, but it's more directed to the world and life for needing her to get up, I think. And there's this boy-'

'Boy? What boy? No boys Grace. Not until you're 35, and even then he has to go through a thorough screening before he gets an ok.'

'Dad, you're aware Dalton used to be an all boys school.'

'But it's not anymore.'

'I know, but this is the first year they've allowed girls to enrol. Most of the student population are boys.'

'Yes, that's exactly what I want to hear. My baby girl surrounded by hormonal teenage boys and little teacher supervision. You're painting a wonderful picture for me. Maybe I should just come and get you right now. You've got a very keen eye for colour co-ordination; you can help with me the last couple of pieces. In fact, who even needs high school anyway? You can intern for me.'

'Dad, relax, it's fine.'

'Ok. But if you get pregnant you are coming straight home and will be grounded until that child is thirty.'

'Oh my God, dad I'm fifteen. I'm not about to go getting pregnant.'

'Hey, when I was in school the president of the celibacy club got pregnant, anything goes.'

'I promise I won't get pregnant.'

'I'm holding you to that. How were your classes?'

'Great, actually. And speaking of them, I've already got a mountain of homework so I'm going to have to go if I want to get done because my door in knocked down by girls who want their skirts shortened.'

'Dalton's resident tailor. I'm so proud of you.'

'I'll call you tomorrow, ok?'

'My phone will be in my hand waiting. I love you.'

'Love you too.'

x x x

On the third ring, her Dad answered.

'Lydia! Hi sweetie, how are you?'

'Good. Tired, but good. It was a good first day.' She rolled her eyes at herself, how many times did she want to fit the word good in?

'That's great to hear. Tell me all about it.'

'Um…' She paused, unsure of where to start. 'Uncle Wes is my music teacher.'

'Good, I can get him to keep an eye on you.'

'Daddy! I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need constant watching.'

'I know, I know. I'm sure you'll have a great time in his class. What about the friends you've made?'

'Sophia is my roommate, she's pretty cool. I think we'll get along really well.'

'That's great.'

'Yeah, and Liam, who's in a couple of my classes is a Warbler.'

'Wait, you're a freshman, a freshman is a Warbler already?'

'Yeah, his brother is one as well, so he auditioned for them early. I haven't heard him sing but I guess he's pretty good.'

'He must be.' Blaine said. 'I'm glad you're making friends though.'

'Me too. How are you Daddy?' She asked.

'Good. I'm really good. The house is extremely quiet without you though. I miss you being here, and, as much as I'm surprised to hear it, your music blaring loudly from your room.'

'I'm sure you're just saying that.'

'No! Really.' Blaine insisted.

'So, permission to play music as loud as I want when I come home.'

'Well, we'll see.'

'It's not like there are neighbours to disturb. Or… I guess… I could try to play it loud enough to reach them.' She laughed, they lived on a large property, with their nearest neighbours being at least two miles away. It had its advantages at times.

'Yes… anyway, how are your other classes?'

'So far? Alright I guess. Same old… lot's of homework already. But I guess that comes with high school.'

'Trust me, the moment you get to college you'll be wishing you had a high school amount of work to do.'

'Woah, let's just have me survive high school first, it's my first day, then we can talk college.'

'Right, right. Well, you said you had a lot of homework didn't you?'

'Yeah…' she sighed.

'So I should probably be a good father and let you go.'

I…' she sighed again, there was no use protesting. 'Yeah, I've got a lot to do.'

'Ok, make sure you call me soon ok? I'm going out of town over the weekend, but I'll do my best to have my phone on hand and I'll call you back if I miss you.'

'Where are you going?'

'Uh, LA, actually. It's just a couple of meetings and then I'll be home.'

'You didn't tell me you were going away.'

'It only just came up in the last couple of days.'

'Oh.'

'Ok, I've really got to know. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, I love you.'

'Love you too sweetheart.'

She stayed on the phone until she heard the dial tone and then hung up taking a deep breath. It was all going to be ok. Maybe it was just a business thing and not… a weekend in Santa Monica hooking up with some guy he'd never introduced to her.

'Ok, Sophia's blazer. Let's just… focus on that.' She muttered to herself, picking up the navy blazer and her sewing kit and got to work.


	5. We Are Family?

Two weeks at Dalton and Grace really felt like she was starting to find her place and rhythm at the school. Her alarm went off at exactly seven am, she'd gotten her morning routine down to a perfect schedule that got her to breakfast just before the rush.

This morning in particular was kind of a big one. Liam, so far the only freshman Warbler, had actually invited her to sit with him at breakfast. Maybe it sounded silly for that to be a big deal, but the thing was, the Warbler boys didn't invite people to sit with them unless they were either dating them, or interested in dating them. And Liam Frost had asked her to sit with them.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't have a giant crush on him. So did nearly every girl in her grade. He was stereotypically cute, with sandy blonde hair, hazel eyes and the kind of smile movie stars had, and given that they shared a music class together, she'd already gotten to hear him sing and his voice was so smooth it was like sinking into a bath of melted chocolate.

And wow did she need to work on her similes… she called herself a song writer?

She hurried to the bathroom, it was a big morning, she needed to look good.

Grace had her shower, and then stared at herself in the mirror, contemplating the small bag on makeup she had with her. The only time she'd ever worn makeup was once when she did a small photo shoot on a mini collection her dad had done (the collection was called The Grace Collection and because she was part of the inspiration they'd wanted to feature her in some of the clothes), and that had been done by professionals. She actually only had makeup because her dad's friend, Rachel (she called her 'Aunt Rachel' even though she wasn't really her aunt) had insisted on taking her shopping for school supplies and had said she needed it.

She was too intimidated by the foundation (she'd seen too many girls rocking the 'orange face' look) and had no idea what concealer was even for. So she settled on keeping it safe with a little bit of mascara, and the black looked good against her blue eyes, and a sheer pink lip gloss. As she was putting on the final touches two giggling girls walked into the bathroom. They stopped promptly upon seeing her.

'Keep trying, that stuff's not going to make you any prettier.' Lydia Anderson said, earning a laugh from the other girl Sophia.

Grace took a deep breath, trying to control her anger as she grabbed her things and left. Lydia Anderson hadn't liked her from the first moment they'd met. In fact, Lydia Anderson barely liked anyone. People were nice to her because she could be really mean and scathing when she wanted to be (which was often), not because they were really her friends. What frustrated Grace the most was that people couldn't seem to tell them a part. The number of times she'd had people stop talking when she walked into a room, or mutter a 'sorry Lydia' if they bumped into her was astonishing…

She could see why… there were some startling similarities between the way they looked. But Lydia's hair was coloured lighter, and she always had a frown on her face. But really, if she heard one more comment about how 'freaky' it was that they looked 'exactly alike' she just might actually punch someone.

It was ten past eight when she got back to dump all of her stuff in her room. Liam had said he would meet her a quarter past, and she didn't want to be dorkishly early, or too late. So she decided to fish through her things until she found a sweater she wanted to wear. Breakfast was the one time the teachers were more relaxed on the uniform rules, which was good. Because this sweater was the exact right shade of blue to really bring out her eyes. It was exactly the right colour because two years ago her dad had made it for her… and then had fallen so in love with his own design he'd added it to his fall collection and since then a version of the 'Grace Sweater' had been a part of each years collection. She slipped the sweater on over her white blouse and folded her blazer neatly before putting it in her book bag, which she was taking with her.

Before she left she threw a pillow at Janelle.

'Get up! Or you'll be late, again.'

'No. Go away.' Came the muffled reply as the girl buried her head further into her pillows.

'Leaving right now.'

It was just on quarter past, so by the time she got to the cafeteria she was a couple of, fashionable minutes late. Liam was already waiting in the steadily growing line to get breakfast, holding two trays. She stepped into the line next to him with a grin.

'Good morning.'

'Morning.' He flashed her a smile that made her heart beat a little bit faster and she had to remind herself to calm down, that they were just hanging out, it was no different to how they sat next to each other and harmonised in music class.

The more they made small talk the more she was able to relax. It was all fine… no big deal at all. Not all the Warblers were at the table yet, and they sat down next to each other. At the pauses in their conversations Liam would give her the most incredibly cute, shy smile that sent more butterflies straight to her stomach.

'Grace, you have to be invited to sit at this table.'

Grace looked up to see Lydia sitting down in front of her, nothing but a paper coffee cup with her.

'Why do you bother coming here every morning when all you drink is warm water?'

'It's green tea and it's good for you.'

'My apologies.' Grace said, making sure her tone said she wasn't sorry at all.

'Wow, Grace, you don't have to be such a bitch.' Lydia said. 'Liam, your taste in girls in questionable. You don't want to be associated with someone so rude.'

'Excuse me?' Grace spluttered. 'Are you actually serious right now?'

'What? You were just incredibly rude to me just then, and it's not the first time.'

'Oh because you're just such an angel to everyone.'

'I am though.'

'Cut it Lydia, no ones buying the act. Here's a newsflash for you… everyone thinks you're a bitch.' Grace could sense the cafeteria slowly getting quieter as people zoned in on the fact that they were having a fight.

Lydia let out a shocked noise and her jaw dropped open. 'I'm a bitch? You're a bitch for calling me a bitch. I can't believe you would say such a thing.'

'I can't believe it's the first time you've had someone call you out on it. You talk about everyone behind their backs, you walk around like you've got a pole of superiority shoved up your ass, and the only reason anyone is nice to you is because for some godforsaken reason they're scared of you. But you've never met me before, and I'm not scared to tell you how it is. You're a rude cow and no one likes you.'

'Bitch!' Lydia picked up her cup of tea and threw it at Grace.

There was a moment of dead silence, all eyes on the two girls.

Grace slowly stood up. 'Do you have any idea how much this sweater is worth?'

'Please, it's a crappy cheap sweater that doesn't even look good on you anyway. Learn what fashion is honey.'

Not having a clue what possessed her, Grace actually leapt forward, across the table and tackled Lydia to the ground. Lydia screamed and attacked back. Instantly the spell on the cafeteria was broken as people started yelling and shouting, cheering on either one of the girls.

'What in heavens name is going on here!' Mrs Marling, a history teacher yelled at the top of her lungs, heading straight to the centre of the commotion. 'Girls! What is the meaning of this?'

Both girls stopped mid-fight, each looking a little worse for wear. Lydia was the first to stand up and try to regain herself.

'She started all of it.'

'And it looks like you retaliated. Miss Hummel I am so disappointed in you.'

'I am not Grace.' Lydia huffed.

'Oh,' for a brief moment the outraged look on Mrs Marling's face disappeared as she looked back and forth between the two girls. 'Right, well I want both of you to come with me right away. The rest of you, get yourselves to class. Now!'

Both Lydia and Grace shamefully followed Mrs Marling out of the cafeteria and straight down the school to where the offices where. The principal, Mr Walker, had a small waiting room beside his office, where both girls were instructed to sit down on the couch until he was ready to see them.

Grace had taken off her destroyed sweater and looked at it mournfully. There was no saving it, she supposed she was at least thankful that the water hadn't been boiling, or else she'd have some intense burns on her chest to deal with as well.

'Mr Walker will see both of you now.'

Mr Walker was a stern, serious looking man. He wore a sharp suit, and was sitting up straight in his chair, hands folded together as he gave the girls a steady gaze. They both sat down quietly.

'Mrs Marling has informed me of the scene she walked in on in the cafeteria. I would like you to, one at a time, recount the events leading up to such a display. Starting with you Lydia.' He said looking at Grace.

'I'm Lydia.' Lydia said. 'What is with people at this school? We don't look that much alike!'

'We kind of do.' Grace said quietly.

'Shut up.'

'Miss Anderson!'

'Sorry.' Lydia snapped. 'I was completely innocent in this. I sat down at the table, and obviously she didn't want me there, so she started spouting all this crap about how I'm rude, and a bitch, and no one likes me and obviously that really upset me, so I maybe threw my drink at her-

'-Her hot drink.' Grace chimed in. 'I could have been seriously injured.'

'Miss Hummel, you will get your chance to speak. Continue Lydia.'

'Anyway, I only did that because she was upsetting me, and then she just full on attacked me physically. It was assault sir. I hit my head, and I'm pretty sure it's bruised. What if she did permanent damage?'

'Not like anyone would be able to tell.' Grace muttered.

'What was that Grace?' Lydia asked.

'Nothing Lydia, please, continue with your story.' Grace gave her an overly fake, sweet smile.

Lydia huffed. 'That's all I have to say sir.'

'Ok. Would you like to speak now Grace?'

'Yes I would. For the past two weeks I've had to put up with Lydia saying very rude things to and about me, and not just about me, but about everyone. I don't know where she grew up, but apparently she never learnt manners,'

'Says the girl from New York.'

'Lydia, please, let Grace finish.'

'Anyway, snide comments as we pass each other in the halls I can deal with. It's not like it's the first time I've had to deal with people being rude to me, in fact I'm kind of used to it. But this morning she sat down, uninvited, across from me, called me a bitch, called me rude, and questioned a boy's taste in girls because he likes me and not her. So I simply confronted Lydia with the truth, thinking that perhaps no ones ever been honest with her before and let her know that people here don't actually like her, they're just afraid of her. She then threw her hot drink on me, emphasis on the hot, it was sheer luck that the drink had cooled down just enough to not burn me. But it did ruin a very expensive, one of a kind, designer sweater that meant a lot to me. And I'm afraid I lashed out. I promise it will never happen again though.'

'Believe it or not girls, this is not the first time we've had such a conflict. Of course, it is the firs time we've had one with girls.' He let out an uncharacteristic chuckle as though he'd just made a funny joke. 'But I think I have a suitable punishment for you. This time around we won't tell your parents, however, should I hear even a hint of something like this again they will be informed immediately.'

'Maybe there is a God after all.' Grace sighed.

'Both of you will be on a lock-down. No leaving your rooms for any reason other than classes and meals. If you need to go to library for research you will seek out permission to do so first.'

Both girls sighed, it wasn't quite as bad of a punishment as they were expecting.

'I believe both of you are leaving on the weekend we have a half day Friday in two weeks?'

They nodded.

'Your punishment will carry out until then. Both of you will also be moving into the spare room in the building your dorms are in.'

'What?' Lydia exclaimed.

'Yes, part of this punishment will be for the two of you to room together until such a time comes where you learn to get along.'

'Sir! You- you can't do that!' Lydia said.

'And why not Miss Anderson? Please enlighten me.'

'I… it's going to take forever to move all of my things, and I've just gotten settled. It's not fair.'

'It's also not fair to be calling your fellow students names,' He turned to a now smirking Grace. 'Or physically attacking them. You will receive late passes on your way out. I expect you to be moved into your new room tonight.'

x x x

'It's ridiculous that I even have to do this.' Lydia scoffed as Sophia helped her dump the last of her stuff into her 'new' room. Grace was silently moving about, setting up her things.

'Just grin and bare it for a while, and pretend that you're best friends with her until they let you move back out.'

Lydia glanced at Grace who hummed to herself, setting up a framed photo on the… shared… beside table in between their single beds.

'Right. Shouldn't be too hard. I can act. I just hope she can too.'

'She,' Grace suddenly whirled around. 'Can actually hear you.'

'Whatever.' Lydia rolled her eyes. She turned to Sophia. 'We're not supposed to have visitors, and I think there'll be teachers checking on us really frequently so… I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Yeah, ok.' Sophia nodded and left the room.

Lydia watched Grace shove a guitar case under the bed and sighed. She'd go through the plan she had for them to get out of the room as quickly as possible later. For now she wanted to sort out her things and just go to sleep.

As she started sorting through her things Grace's phone rang.

'Hi…' Grace said hesitantly. 'Yeah… not much at all really. Yep, everything is fine.'

Lydia rolled her eyes. All parents were the same. She went to put her own photo of her and her dad, taken a couple of years ago with her old horse on their property, when she snuck a peak at the photo Grace had set up. She blinked several times before picking up the photo to get a closer look. She glanced back at Grace who was sitting on her bed, still on the phone.

'I know, yeah… today's been kind of long so I'm kind of ready to just go straight to bed… alright… love you too. Bye.'

As soon as she hung up Lydia gave her a demanding look.

'Why the hell do you have a photo of my dad?'

Grace frowned in confusion. 'What are you talking about?'

'You have a photo of my dad!' Lydia waved the frame in her face.

'Stop that before you break it.' Grace snatched it off her. 'I have no idea what you're talking about, it's a photo of my dad.'

'No. No.' Lydia grabbed her own photo and showed it to Grace. 'Tell me that isn't the same man.'

Grace stared at the photo for a moment, at first confused about why there was a photo of her with a strange man. Then she slowly comprehended that the girl in the picture was actually Lydia, and the man… well, he looked very similar to the one in hers… the dark hair (though in Lydia's his hair was curly, while in hers it was slicked down), the strong jaw-line, the most identifiable feature though was the triangular shaped eyebrows. It was difficult to ignore.

'You're sure?' Grace asked.

'Yes.'

'Our dads knew each other?' She asked, slowly sinking back down onto her bed. 'They… oh my god, this is your dad?'

'Yes!'

'Wow.'

'Um… uh, why did you have that photo to begin with? I mean, why have a photo with a man you don't even know framed and sitting by you?'

Grace turned the photo towards Lydia so she could see it. 'See the look on my dad's face there?'

'Yeah…'

'I have never in my life seen him that happy. Not once. Not for anything. Whoever that man is… all I know is that he's the only one who can make my dad that happy again. The only one.'

'Is your dad, um…' Lydia paused. 'Gay?'

Grace tensed slightly, it was a sore point from the past but she tried not to show it. 'Obviously.'

'Was he uh… was he ever married?' Lydia asked with a shaky breath, causing Grace to frown.

'What?'

'Your dad, was he ever married?'

'I uh… no? I don't think so.'

'Well, do you know how you came about?' Lydia asked, she could already see the pieces falling into place in front her, but refused to believe it.

'What do you mean?'

'What do you think I mean. How did your father, a homosexual man, end up with a child?'

'I…' Grace stopped. 'I guess I never thought about it.'

'Oh god. I think I'm actually going to be sick.' Lydia muttered.

'What?'

'When's your birthday?'

'My birth- what does this have to do with anything at all?'

'Just answer the question.'

'March 15.'

'Year?'

'2018.'

'This is so not happening right now.' Lydia sat down on her own bed.

'What? Stop being so freaking vague!'

'We have the same birthday, year and everything.'

'So? Like a billion people are born a day or something like that. That's not that weird.'

'How many times these past weeks have you been mistaken for me?'

'I…' Grace stopped, her mind finally able to piece together what Lydia was implying and she started to shake her head vigorously. 'No. Nope. No… that's not… that's… no.'

'Call your dad right now, ask him if he was ever married. Ask him if he knew Blaine Anderson.'

'Why don't you ask yours?' Grace exclaimed.

'Because he's too busy for a teenage daughter.'

'We're not twins. That's the most ridiculous thing ever.'

'Grace…'

'No. We're not. Because my life is not a Lindsay Lohan movie and my dad would never do that to me. He just wouldn't.'

'They obviously didn't think we'd ever find out about each other.'

'No. Family is the most important thing in the world to him. He wouldn't split up sisters, let alone twins. He wouldn't… he…'

'Call him.' Lydia insisted.

'No. Lydia I-'

Lydia had found her phone amongst the pile of things still sitting on her bed and placed it firmly in her hand.

'Call your Dad and ask him about Blaine Anderson. Just say 'do you know him?' and you'll get your answer.'

'I know he knew him!' Grace exclaimed gesturing to the photo. 'If the photo isn't evidence enough. I… I'll call my Pop instead. I think I'll get more of a straight answer out of him anyway.'

'Whatever, I don't care, just called someone.'

'I still don't see why you can't do the same thing.'

'And here I am thinking I was a walking advertisement for family problems. Hurry up Grace.'

'Ok! Ok…' Grace quickly scrolled through her contacts until she found her grandfathers phone number. She tried to ignore how much she was shaking as she sat down on the bed and listened to the ring tone. Hopefully it was nothing… just a freakish coincidence that the two of them looked alike. It happened all the time… right? Doppelgangers and that? Who just happened to be related to someone who was linked with your dad and have the same birthday as you. Perfectly common occurrence.

'Grace?'

Grace started at the sound of her Pop's voice finally picking up his voice.

'Oh, uh, hey Pop. How are you?'

'Good,' his tone was slightly suspicious. 'How are you?'

'Great. I'm great. Just… great.'

'Good to hear.'

'Yep.' Grace looked up from her lap to see Lydia pacing back and forth making gestures to get her to hurry up.

'So, while I love hearing from my wonderful granddaughter, I'm a little curious as to why you've actually called.'

'I uh… research.'

At this Lydia stopped pacing and mouthed 'Research?' at her with a frustrated look. Grace tried to communicate with her to calm down and that she had an idea forming.

'Research?'

'Yeah… creative writing class. We're supposed to um, be inspired by something about our lives.'

'Kiddo, you're confusing you're old Pop here. Why did you need to call me?'

'Well, um, I figured I have a pretty interesting story, you know… girl raised by her single, gay father, it's not exactly common, you know? So a great source of inspiration. But I kind of realised that I've never asked the 'where did I come from' question.'

Burt Hummel started coughing like he was choking on something, and Grace was immediately alarmed.

'Pop? Are you ok?'

'I'm fine. Just fine. Uh… I thought you already had the um, birds and the bees talk and is over the phone really-'

'Oh my god Pop!' Grace interrupted. 'Not what I meant!'

'Oh, ok. Good. That's good. Then, uh, what did you mean?'

'Well, just um, how does a gay, single man, living in New York, end up with a kid? I never even thought to ask.' She said, then continued quickly before Burt could interrupt her. 'It's only that obviously when I was a kid I was kind of confused I didn't have a mother, right? So Dad explained to me how he liked boys and that was why and I was content with that. And um, this is a little embarrassing, but it's only just occurred to me now that if my Dad isn't into women, um, how did he get me? Was I adopted? Was it a surrogate? And why? What would possess him to want to raise a kid on his own?'

'Grace, sweetheart, this is a conversation you need to have with your dad.'

'Can't you just tell me?' She put a slight whine into her voice to be more convincing. 'His phone went straight to his voicemail, and I need to do this tonight.'

'It's really not my place to tell you.'

Grace was losing him, so in a panic she blurted out. 'What about Blaine Anderson?'

There was a pause of silence on the other end of the phone and then a quiet. 'What?'

'I… what do you know about him?'

'Grace, where did you hear that name?'

'Is that really important?'

'Very.'

'I uh… someone here knows him, and heard my last name… asked if I had any connection to Kurt Hummel, I thought it was because of the whole, you know, fashion designer thing, but they brought up Blaine and I just… I wanted to know. I was too scared to ask Dad so please, please don't tell him.'

'It's really not my place to talk about it.'

'Pop…'

'Blaine was… Blaine and your father were married.'

'What?'

'Back before you were born, and they decided they wanted to start a family. You came along and not long after the marriage fell apart.'

'Why?'

'Look, this is a conversation you need to have with your Dad ok? I feel really uncomfortable telling you this without his permission.'

'Ok... I uh… thanks for telling me though. I should go then.'

'Wait, Grace,'

'Yeah?'

'I want you to know that… Blaine was, is, a good man. He, he really did love you, does still love you, I'm sure. Ok?'

'Ok. I should um, I have to go.'

'Alright. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.'

'Yep, see you then. Bye.'

She hung up the phone and quickly dropped it at her side.

'Well?' Lydia asked urgently.

Slowly Grace looked up at her. 'They were… they were married.' As she said in out loud she felt her eyes start to well up and breathing get significantly shallower. 'They were married and decided that they wanted to have a kid and not long after having a kid they split up.' She wiped at the tears that were threatening to fall hoping to stop them. 'I'm guessing that Pop left out the part where they actually had twin girls, and split them up too, because I'm struggling to find another explanation.'

'Wow.' Lydia sat on her own bed facing Grace. 'I uh, I had kind of hoped that phone call would disprove my theory.'

Grace shrugged. She'd been hoping that too. But the information was there and there didn't seem to be any other explanation for it. Slowly she looked up at Lydia and gave her half a smile.

'So… twinsies?'

Lydia's laughed loudly, and slightly bitterly in response. 'I guess so. Twinsies.'


	6. Family Swap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading! This is now only about 4 chapter away from being completely caught up.

The whole 'finding out you have a twin' thing was supposed to be cool. It was supposed to be this fun, exciting adventure. But no one tells you the other side of it. The way you suddenly feel betrayed by everyone you ever held dear to you, because you realise that they knew, all along they knew, and they never said a word. They don't tell you how it's confusing, and you suddenly lose track of who you even are, because all of a sudden there's this whole other half of your identity you've found out about.

They kept it to themselves. They didn't tell anyone what they'd discovered. Their friends thought them starting to spend more time with each other was because of their punishment, and was the two of them trying to get out of living together as quickly as possible. They didn't tell a soul it was because they wanted to know each other better, and try and sort out what the whole mess that had suddenly become their lives actually was.

It was the weekend before they were both going to be going home to see their families when Grace had an idea.

'It's brilliant Lydia. It'll work.'

'What will?'

'We switch places.'

Lydia rolled her eyes. 'You're not serious right now are you?'

'Yes! I am. It's perfect.'

'Exactly what is so perfect about it?'

'For starters it's a rite of passage. If people find out about our story and found out we didn't attempt a switch, the world would be sorely disappointed. We owe it to them. Plus, I'm an excellent matchmaker. I'd get our Dad's back together in a month, easy. And don't you want to get to know your biological family?'

'I've survived so far not knowing them.'

'Come on Lyd, I know you want to.'

'Why do youwant to? You don't have to have anything to do with my Dad, why do you need to get to know him?'

'I explained this to you ages ago.'

'Uh, no, you didn't.'

'The photo!' Grace exclaimed. 'It all comes back to the photo, don't you get it? Blaine made my dad happier than he's ever been. I just want to see him that happy.'

'Uh, Grace, I hate to break this to you, but the whole, divorce and separating their kids so they never have to see each other again thing probably means that my Dad is the last person on the planet Kurt Hummel wants to see.'

'That's not true. If it was he wouldn't be so sad all the time. He thinks I can't see it, but I do. They were 23 when they broke up. These days 23 is practically still a kid. I'm positive the whole thing was just a dramatic, snap decision and they both feel differently about it now. They're older, they've got more life experience. They'll make it work.'

'No, Grace...'

'Come on Lyd... I really want to get to know the man my Dad was in love with. I've wanted to my whole life.'

'Wouldn't you rather see your own Dad?'

Grace shrugged. 'Yeah, but I talk to him everyday, and I'll get to see him at Thanksgiving anyway. Besides, I happen to know for a fact that he'll be bringing over clothes, especially for me, and I'm talking top of the line, designer stuff... and I'll let you keep all of it if you agree to do this.'

Lydia sighed. She closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten before opening them again and looked at Grace. 'I feel like I'm going to regret this. But... I can't pass up free designer clothes. So... ok.'

'Yes!' With no warning Grace tackled Lydia in a hug. 'Thank you! So so so much.'

'Yeah, yeah... we've still got a bit to sort out before we actually do this.'

'What do you mean?' Grace asked.

'For starters... the hair? And then there's the fact that even though we might look the same we act completely differently... plus how weird would it be to walk into the house you've lived in for the past ten years and suddenly you have no idea where your own bedroom is?'

'Right,' Grace nodded. 'Crash course on each other's lives. We've got a week, that's heaps of time to learn everything necessary. The hair isn't a problem, we'll just tell them we wanted a change.'

'Yeah, ok.'

They started that night, making notes and going into as much detail as they possibly could about their lives. Grace told Lydia how they'd be at her grandparents house, that Burt was Pop and Carole was Nan, even though, on a technically Carole was her step-grandmother. She told her how her Uncle Finn, and Aunt Kate (along with their kids, Will and Sarah) were probably going to be there for at least one meal.

Lydia in turn, shared that the only real conversation she'd have with her Dad was over dinner. The rest of the time she'd be holed up in her room, blaring music really loudly and watching youtube videos on fashion and makeup. How he'd probably invite his brother around and that 'Uncle Coop' was a giant pain the ass with how loud and obnoxious he was. But for the most part things would be dull and boring.

The Friday finally came and their school day finished at 12.30. Grace would be getting picked up first, given that Blaine was coming about 1pm, while Burt would be coming at 1.30 (Kurt wouldn't be flying into Ohio until later in the evening). The girl's looked at each other nervously before Lydia gave an 'oh stuff it'and drew Grace into a hug.

'Take care, ok?' She said.

'You too. And be careful.'

'I will.' Lydia paused and drew back from the hug. 'I know I said how me and my Dad aren't bff's like you and yours are, but... take care of him, please? He's pretty much all I've got.'

'I will. I promise I will.' Grace had never been more sincere because she understood completely. Kurt was all she had too. But she already knew Lydia understood that.

'Lydia Anderson,' was called over the intercom.

Lydia gave Grace a smile. 'Good luck.'

Grace nodded. 'You too.'

She picked up her small weekend bag and headed out to the parking lot where she spotted the black Lexus Lydia said Blaine drove. As she approached he got out of the car and headed to her. It was a little shocking; to see the man she'd looked at in the one picture over and over for four years in person, finally. He was older, his hair no longer tamed down by gel, but the black curls were set lose and sat wildly on top of his head. He was dressed casually, in jeans and a brown jacket with a red scarf. Grace grinned and headed to him, hugging him tightly before she could think about it too much.

'Lydia!' He exclaimed, his arms wrapping around her and holding her close to him. 'I've missed you so much.'

'I missed you too… Dad.' She whispered. It felt odd, calling another man Dad.

'Come on, let's get going, I'm sure you're eager to sleep in your own bed.'

'You bet I am.'

Blaine picked up her bag, and for a moment he was surprised at how light it was, he turned around to say something, but his daughter had already hopped into the car. So he shrugged and tossed it into the trunk before getting into the drivers seat and heading home. Perhaps having to wear a uniform nearly every day had made her realise she didn't need to change her outfit three times a day.

Grace fiddled with the radio station until she found one she considered un-offensive.

'What? No Blake Rivera?' he asked.

'Please, like I'd listen to that manufactured pop crap.' Grace scoffed before she could think.

'Wow, that's a big turn around from summer when he was all you listened to and you begged me for tickets to his show.'

'Yeah, well, um... it's been a month. My tastes have matured.'

'Right.' Blaine said, frowning. He supposed a month was a long time, and people could change a lot in a month. Speaking of change... 'Your hair is all one colour.' He pointed out.

'Oh, right.' Grace tugged at her hair unconsciously. 'Yeah I... I felt like it was time for a change.'

'Right.' Blaine said again. 'A change.'

x x x

Lydia was one of the last left waiting to picked up (of those who were leaving for the weekend anyway). At 1.45 an older man, who looked to be about in his 60's came walking in. He was wearing old jeans that were fading, and had a hole in one of the knees, and flannelette shirt, and a baseball cap. If Grace hadn't shown her pictures, Lydia would have been so confused, and convinced the man wasn't actually related to the photo's she'd seen of Kurt Hummel. But he was. It might have taken her a few moments to place why he was familiar, but once she did she jumped up, trying to channel Grace as much as possible and hugged him.

'Pop!' She exclaimed. 'I missed you.'

Burt laughed and hugged her tight. 'I missed you too kiddo. Are you ready to go?'

'You bet.' She picked up the handle of her small, pink, wheelie bag and proceeded to follow Burt Hummel out to his car. As she waited for him to put her bag into the back of the car it finally dawned on her that this was actually happening. She was going to meet her biologically family. The people she actually shared DNA with... and one them was her father... a man whom without she wouldn't actually exist. And all of a sudden that was quite scary.

For someone who had always known she was adopted, she never cared much about meeting her biological family. If they hadn't wanted anything to do with her, why should she want anything to do with them? There were times she was curious... like was it her mother or her father who had blue eyes with flecks of green and yellow in them? Which had had her round nose? Was her personality like either of them, or was that something that had developed purely from who she was raised by? However those times never lasted long enough for her to actually seek out the answers.

Now though...

It was a little different now. Now that she knew it hadn't been a case of complete abandonment. And oh, she was definitely angry at both her Dad and Kurt for thinking it was ok to split the two of them up the way they did. But it was different knowing that it hadn't been just because someone didn't want her. And maybe Grace was right, maybe getting to know Kurt would be good for her.

'You're quiet.' Burt commented. 'What happened to my little chatterbox?'

'Nothing.' Lydia said. 'Just... thinking...'

'Look, if this is about that conversation we had the other week-'

'It's not.' She interrupted quickly.

'Ok, but if it is... please, don't force your dad to talk about it, ok? I know you can be stubborn in trying to get what you want. But you really need to let him fill you in at his own pace. It's still a sensitive topic for him.'

'Pop, I'm not going to ask him about it. Like I said, I... I just wanted to know for an assignment'.'

'Grace, it's ok to want to know about your past. You don't have to be ashamed for being curious.'

'I'm not.' she tried to make it sound convincing.

'Ok, then.' But sounded just as convinced as she was... which was barely at all.

'So, tell me all about the fancy-pants school of yours.'

After that Lydia found it a little easier to relax and talk about Dalton, about the teachers (though she had stop herself at mentioning Wes and what she thought of him as a teacher), and the other students. The car ride didn't take quite as long as she suspected and when she got to the small house, Carole Hummel, 'Nan' was there ready to greet her with open arms.

It was strange, to have such an affectionate family. Of course, her Dad hugged her, but the rest of her family… on the very rare occasion she even saw them it was a cold, impersonal kiss on the cheek (and who knew there was such a thing) and that was it for physical affection.

She quickly asked if she could go and 'freshen up'. And of course her Grandparents let her. She found the room that Grace had told her was nicknamed 'the kids room' (because it was the room she and her cousins used when they were staying) easily enough. It was smaller than her room at home, but bigger than the rooms at Dalton (or maybe it just felt that way because it didn't have two people squeezed into it) and decorated quite neutrally. She took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was just two days… two days with a completely strange family pretending to be someone else and then everything would go back to normal. She could do it.

Now to wait for Kurt to arrive.

x x x

Grace had ended up pretending to nap in the car for a while. Trying to be Lydia was harder than she'd anticipated. She noticed the strange looks Blaine kept giving her when she mentioned something that was obviously a little out of character, or maybe it was just at the fact that the usually sullen Lydia was talking, and had a smile of her face. Or it was a mix of both.

She 'woke up' just at the end of their trip. The turned a corner and a large house sitting on a small hill came into view.

'Welcome home.' Blaine grinned.

'Oh my god!' Grace exclaimed before she could stop it slipping out of her mouth. The house was huge.

Sure, in New York she and her Dad lived in an apartment that was considered really big for an apartment, especially in New York City of all places. It was penthouse at the top of a building. But it seemed incredibly small compared to the mansion she was looking at.

'What?' Blaine asked with a laugh.

Turning red, Grace slumped back down into her seat a little. 'Nothing I just… I guess the time away made me forget just how big it actually is.'

'Right… if you say so.'

'I'm really lucky to live here.' She said softly after a moment, looking over at Blaine to watch his reaction. As the words sunk in he smiled softly and glanced over at her briefly.

'Well, I'm really lucky to have you.'

'Because I'm awesome.' Grace said with a smirk, trying to channel Lydia as much as she could.

'There's my Lydia.' Blaine said. 'I was starting to think Dalton had changed you completely.'

'Nah, I'll always be right here.'

x x x

Kurt had arrived about four hours after Lydia had gotten to the house. She hadn't actually heard him arrive at first, having stuck to her room mostly to avoid conversation. She didn't know he was there until he was knocking softly on her door.

'Grace?' He asked as he poked head through slowly.

Lydia took a deep breath as she quickly took in the man. He was tall, much taller than she'd been expecting. He didn't look at all like he'd just gotten off plane, given than he was wearing a will fitted-suit. He had a smile on his face, and seeing the real thing was so different to looking at the photos on Grace's phone. It was a little scary just how much of herself she could see in his face.

Channel Grace, channel Grace. She repeated to herself over and over as she quickly replaced the shock on her face with a grin.

'Dad!' She exclaimed, jumping up off the bed and running to him.

Kurt quickly grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground slightly. She laughed at the motion.

'Put me down!' She squealed.

'Sorry.' Kurt said as he set her back on the ground. 'I've just missed you so much.' He stepped back to look at her carefully. 'Did you get taller?'

She shrugged. 'Maybe?'

'You really need to stop. Soon you'll be taller than me. And you've changed your hair!'

She laughed.

'So, I was thinking we could go down and help your Nan with dinner, and while we cook you can tell me absolutely everything about Dalton. I want all the goss.'

'I talk to you like, everyday, you know everything already.' She said.

'Oh, I'm sure there's still more you can find to talk about.' Kurt said. 'Come on, let's go.'

The evening was strange, in an oddly wonderful way. The three of them squeezed into the kitchen, slicing and dicing and boiling and frying just about everything in site, while Burt sat at the table, asking several times if there was anything he could do to help. To which Kurt or Carole would always tell him to not even think about it because 'the disaster of '22' whatever that was.

She was finally able to just let herself relax and be in the moment (but not too in the moment, should she forget where she was and what she was doing there), and found that the Hummel clan was actually a lot of fun to be around. So, so vastly different to what her own family was like. And at several points during the evening she caught herself daydreaming, that her dad was sitting next to her, opposite Kurt, and Grace was sitting next to him, all them just one, big happy family.

And every time she went there she had to shake herself out of it, because there was no point in wondering about what could have been...

x x x

'Wow, whatever it is that you're cooking smells really good.' Grace walked down into the kitchen where Blaine was slaving away over the stove. She'd had a shower and was changed into a pair of track pants and a loose fitting sweater.

'Well, my favourite daughter is home for the weekend and I thought I'd cook her, her favourite food.'

Grace put a grin on her face, ignoring how the words 'favourite daughter' were different now and that they sort of hurt a little.

'Great, I can't wait.'

'Also, uh, we have a guest coming.' Blaine said. 'So you might want to um, be a little more dressed up. Only because I know how you are about that kind of stuff.'

'Oh, ok, sure.' Grace said. 'Is it Uncle Cooper?' she asked with a grin at the thought of meeting the uncle Lydia had told her all about.

'Uh… no. No it's not Uncle Cooper.'

'Oh. Who is it then?'

Blaine turned around and looked at her. 'Someone, uh… just someone.'

'O… k…' Grace shrugged. Maybe this was normal behaviour for Blaine and Lydia hadn't even thought to mention it, because that's just him. 'I'll go and get changed then.'

'Dinner will be at seven.'

'Oh…' Grace blinked a few times. 'Ok, then. I'll see you then.'

'Yes, you will.'

At promptly seven Grace made her way back downstairs and to the dining room wearing a pair of Lydia's dark wash jeans and a light blue collared, button up shirt.

'Hey…' She trailed off, the grin falling off her face promptly as she saw Blaine leading another man into the room by the hand. 'Hi, Dad.'

'Lydia!' Blaine looked surprised; he glanced at the clock on the wall. 'You're on time.'

'Yeah…' She glanced at the man standing by him with a questioning look.

'Right, ok. Um… Lydia, this is someone I'd like you to meet, he uh… he's rather special to me,' He turned back to the man to give him a smile. 'And I wouldn't be introducing you if I wasn't sure, but anyway, um, this is Mason. We're, well, he's my… I've been seeing him for a while and… this is Mason.'

'So you said.' Grace said, eyeing 'Mason' up and down. He had dark brown hair that was swept up off his forehead, brooding dark eyes and sharp features all over, with stubble grazing his jaw line.

'Mase, this is my daughter, Lydia.'

Grace had to try and not gag at the nickname.

'Blaine has told me so much about you.' Mason said hold his hand out.

Grace accepted his handshake, giving him a large grin, that was probably over-compensating, but whatever. 'Awesome. You know he's told me absolutely nothing about you.'

'I guess we'll have to get acquainted then.'

Grace promptly dropped his hand. 'Guess so.'

'So… who's up for fettuccini alfredo?' Blaine asked laughing nervously, glancing between his boyfriend and daughter.

'Sounds great.' They both said at the same time.

x x x

Sometime during dessert, Lydia felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, as discreetly as she could she looked to see who was calling. It was Grace.

'Um, excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.'

Without waiting to actually be excused by anyone she rushed up the stairs and into her room where she answered the call.

'What do you want?' she snapped.

'Oh hey sis, lovely to speak to you too.' Grace said sarcastically.

'Grace...'

Grace sighed. 'Your Dad is seeing someone.'

'Really? That couldn't wait until we got back to school.'

'No Lydia, it really couldn't. For starters, he was acting like it was the biggest deal in the world he was introducing you to his boyfriend-

'Wait, introducing you? You actually met the guy my dad's been seeing?'

'You knew he was seeing someone?'

'My Dad is many things, subtle is not one. There's only so many Friday night 'business meetings' he could have before I caught one.'

'Oh... well, what are we going to do?'

'What do you mean?'

'Hello? We need to stop them. Blaine can't have a boyfriend. It ruins the whole plan.'

'What plan Grace?' Lydia asked with a sigh, unsure if she'd regret it or not.

'Um, the whole get our dad's back together so we can be one big happy family again plan.'

'Oh...' that plan...

'So, what do I do?'

'What do you mean?'

'You know your dad best. How do I convince him that this Mason guy is all wrong for him?'

'Um, you don't.'

'What?'

'Under no circumstances are you supposed to do that.'

'Lydia! Our Dads will be happiest together. We need to stop this before it gets too serious.'

'Ok, Grace, one... it's already serious if Dad's introducing him to you, me, us, whatever... two, Dad won't listen. Trust me, he won't. You need to convince this guy that Dad is bad for him.'

'Oh...' Grace paused in thought. 'I suppose, yeah... I can see why that would work.'

'Ok, now I need to go because there is the world's best cheesecake waiting for me back downstairs and I intend to eat a lot.'

'The baked one?' Grace asked.

'The baked one.'

Grace sighed. 'I'm so jealous of you. That really is the best dessert in the world.'

'Yep. So I have to go. I'll see you Sunday night, Grace.'

'Yeah, ok, see you then.'

Lydia hung up. Just as she did, there was a knock on the door.

'Lydia?'

'Yeah?' She spun around and only realised her mistake once she was face to face with Burt Hummel. She could feel the blood draining from her face instantly as she looked at him with wide eyes. 'I uh... I mean, um... crap.'

'Yeah... crap would be right.' Burt said. He walked further into the room. 'I thought something was different about you the moment I picked you up. But not once did occur to me that you were...' He stopped, and Lydia could see him getting choked up. She didn't know what to do so she settled for watching him nervously, and waiting for him to do all the talking. Because she just didn't know what she was supposed to say. At all. 'Oh, Lydia, honey... it's actually you.'

She nodded. 'Yeah... it's actually me.'

'You're so grown up. The last time I saw you, and well... knew that it was you... you were just this little tiny thing.'

'Yeah, well... not so little anymore am I?'

Burt laughed and sat down on the bed, patting the space next to him. She said down immediately and waited again for him to speak.

'I think you have a bit of explaining to do.'

'Can't we just go and have dessert?'

'Your father will save you a piece.'

Lydia sighed. 'Ok, well, I guess the sparks notes version is that our Dad's are more similar than they realise. Because they sent us to the same school and... it's kind of hard to ignore someone who looks like they could be your identical twin, you know? And then when we had to move in together... Grace had a picture of my dad, Blaine and from there it all just kind of... came out.'

'You had to move in together?' Burt asked, his eyebrows raised.

'Um, it's a long story?' She tried. 'Anyway, it didn't take us long to figure it all out.'

'And that's why Grace called me asking about Blaine.' Burt put the pieces together. 'And what about... this...' he pointed to her.

'Um, the switch was Grace's idea.'

'Of course it was.' Burt said with a fond roll of his eyes.

'She... um, she wants our Dad's back together and somehow thinks that meeting Dad, Blaine, will make that happen.'

'And what do you think?'

Lydia shrugged. 'I don't have an opinion.'

'Now I know that's not true. You're still a Hummel, and we are known for giving our opinion all the time, even when it's not really wanted.'

'No really, I don't care. My dad is his own person and he can do what he wants, he doesn't have to run it by his teenage daughter.'

'I find it hard to believe he'd make any life changing decisions without talking to you about it.'

'Well clearly my dad isn't the same man he was fifteen years ago.' Lydia snapped. 'I'm hungry I want cheesecake.' She stood up abruptly, forcing the conversation to come to an end.

Burt stood up after her. 'Lydia, wait.' He stopped her just as she was at the door.

'What?' She asked pointedly.

'I want you to know that no one, not myself, not Carole, not your grandparents either, agreed with the decision to separate you girls. I never once wanted that for you and Grace and I... I honestly think it was the biggest mistake my son has ever made.'

'Thanks, but... that doesn't really make me feel better.'

'Also, I'll let you girls be the ones to tell him… both of them, that you know.'

'Thank you.'

'Ok, so, cheesecake?'

'Yes, let's go.' Lydia said, forcing a grin onto her face before she bounded back down the stairs.

x x x

As soon as Lydia had mentioned cheesecake to her, Grace was filled with a sudden longing to be home. To be with her dad, and her grandparents, talking and laughing. Not... not stuck in a strange house, with strange people like she was.

It was late now though, Mason had left long ago and now she only had a day and a half with Blaine left. She got up and walked as quietly as she could down the stairs. Lydia had told her about a room that sounded like it would be her favourite, and she hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. If she remembered the map Lydia drew correctly it was just down the hallway, last door on the left. The door was already so she flicked the light on and grinned.

Yep, definitely her favourite room.

Right in the middle room was a baby grand piano, sleek and shiny in a classic black. Her fingers traced over the keys, longingly to play it. But she wouldn't. It would wake everyone in the house. She then glanced up to the wall opposite, and it was just as her sister had described. There were four acoustic guitars hung up on the wall, next to them two electric, and finally an electric bass guitar next to them. She couldn't have helped the grin that crossed her face even if she wanted to as she got closer to the acoustics.

She picked the one that looked the least expensive, an Ibanez with a couple of fraying strings, she lifted it up off the wall and walked back to the piano and sat down on the stool, sitting the guitar in her lap. It felt relaxing, and familiar, to be holding a guitar again. She didn't get too many chances to play at school. Her fingers found familiar chords as she picked out a song she'd written what felt like years ago. It was strange now to think that she was now in the house of the man she'd written the song about, back when he was just a stranger in a picture. She hummed the melody softly under her breath as she played. When the last note finally rang out there was a soft applause.

Grace jumped, startled as she turned to see Blaine standing the doorway.

'Dad, you scared me.' She said, calling the man dad still felt strange to her.

'I didn't know you could play.' he said, walking into the room. He went over to the guitars and lifted a pretty Taylor guitar off the wall.

'I uh...' crap. crap. crap. Lydia didn't play. She was so screwed. 'My friend at school has been teaching me.'

'She must be a great teacher if you can play like that already.'

Grace smiled bashfully. 'Maybe I'm just insanely talented and take after my dad.'

'Maybe.' Blaine said softly. He lifted the Ibanez she was holding out of her hands and handed her the Taylor. 'This one's much nicer.'

'Oh... no, I...'

'Lydia, what was the point in me buying you your own guitar if you won't even play it when you're finally interested in play guitar?'

'Um...' Grace paused. 'I... I don't really know.'

'Let's see how much your 'friend' has actually taught you.' Blaine said with a grin. 'Think you can follow along?'

'I think I can give it a go.'

She watched Blaine start to play, and joined in when she immediately recognised the song. She sang a harmony with him as they played. When the final chord ended Grace looked up from the guitar to see Blaine smiling at her softly.

'What?' she asked.

'Nothing, I…' Blaine shook his head. 'Nothing. You have a beautiful voice, you know that?'

'Please, no I don't.' She shook her head blushing. 'But thank you.'

'It's late. You should be in bed.'

'Yeah…' Grace stood up and hung the guitar back up on the wall, Blaine close behind her doing the same thing with his. When she turned back around she wrapped her arms around Blaine's waist. He froze for a moment before returning the hug.

'Tomorrow we'll have a father-daughter day. How does that sound?'

'It sounds perfect. And you can tell me all about Mason.' She said.

Blaine's eyebrows rose. 'You like him? I was ready to have you storming out of dinner when I introduced him.'

'Um…' She bit her lip. 'I'm still deciding.'

'Dalton's really changed you hasn't it?'

'You have no idea.'


	7. Back To School

Lydia decided she could count the weekend as a success. The Hummel's were an amazing family. So, so incredibly different from her own… but that was absolutely a good thing.

Burt had kept his promise and hadn't breathed a word of who she was to anyone. But he had, it seemed, gone out of his way to make her more comfortable in the strange environment. On the Saturday night when Kurt had promptly declared a family sing along, and looked at her to play the piano, she'd given Burt a wide-eyed and fearful look so he stepped in and suggested Kurt play instead. She mouthed a 'thank you' to him and he'd winked at her to let her know her secret was still safe.

Sunday afternoon meant going back to Dalton, and Lydia was surprised at how quickly the time had gone by. Burt and Kurt were going to drop her off first, before Burt would drive Kurt to the airport to catch his flight home.

The ride was mostly quiet and when they finally got to Dalton they were greeted with a hub of activity of returning students. Lydia did a quick glance around the parking lot to see if she could see her dad's car. It wasn't in sight, but that was kind of to be expected. Grace said she wasn't coming back until a little later on.

'Kurt, why don't you get Grace's stuff out of the trunk, I'd like to have a few words with her.'

'Uh oh, am I in trouble?' Lydia asked.

'Definitely not.' Burt said.

'Right, I'll get the bags then.' Kurt said, before getting out of the car.

Burt turned around to look at Lydia sitting in the back seat. He handed her a card.

'This is my phone number.'

'Ok.' She said accepting it.

'Listen to me Lydia,' He said firmly. 'You are family. You always have been, and you always will be.'

'Thanks Burt, but I-'

'No wait. I wanted you to know that my line's always open for you if you need it. I don't care what it is, I don't care when it is. If you need help you can call me.'

'Thank you.'

'Also, I do think you girls are going to have to let your father's in on the fact that you know about each other.'

Lydia nodded. 'I know, and we'll get there eventually, ok Burt? Just… give us some time.'

'I hope I'll get to see you again soon. And… you can call me Pop. If you want to.'

'Thanks Bu… Pop.' She shyly. 'I'll hopefully see you sometime soon.'

'Bye Lydia.'

She shoved the card into her pocket and slid out of the car where Kurt was waiting with her bag at his feet. As she got out Kurt gave her a sad smile and held out his arms. She smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he hugged her tightly back.

'I don't want to go back to New York without you.' He said. 'Don't make me.'

'Dad, there's a new spring collection with your name on it that isn't going to design itself.'

'I supposed you're right.' He sighed and pulled out from the hug. 'Ok, so, be good, and no more growth spurts. I don't want to come back at Thanksgiving and not recognise my own daughter.'

Lydia wasn't too sure if the sound she made was a laugh, or a choked sob, because, if only he knew…

'I'll miss you.' She said, unable to help herself and hugged him one last time.

'And I already miss you.' He said. 'Still call me every day.'

She nodded. 'Every single one.'

'Ok… I know you have to get going. Be good and I'll… I'll see you at Thanksgiving.'

'Yep.' Lydia nodded, even though she knew she wouldn't be seeing him them. 'Thanksgiving.'

Kurt kissed her forehead and Lydia picked up her bag, she waved briefly once more to Kurt, and Burt who was still sitting in the car before heading back to her dorm room to wait for Grace so they could plan out what exactly they were going to do next.

x x x

The car ride back to Dalton was mostly silent. Over the weekend Grace had learnt a lot about Lydia's relationship with Blaine. It was very, very different to her own relationship with her father. Blaine didn't seem to expect Lydia to give up any information about her own life. And acted very surprised when Grace offered a little tid-bit from school, or of anything really... he seemed to expect to have to ask a thousand and one questions to get something out of her. And it was becoming increasingly clear, that despite everything, Grace really didn't know her sister at all.

She still remembered the conversation she had with Blaine about Mason.

'So, do you think he's it?'

'What?' Blaine asked.

'Do you think he's you know, 'the one' this time around?'

'This time around?' Blaine asked, giving her a questioning look.

'I just thought, you know... your first marriage-'

'How did you...' Blaine interrupted trailing off.

Grace shrugged. 'Uncle Coop told me about it.'

'Did he now?' Blaine mused. 'I'll have to have a few words with your uncle then.'

'Why?' Grace asked. 'Is it that much of a sore point with you? I didn't mean to bring it up to upset you.' She said, trying to be careful about how she worked her way around the topic because she didn't want to get back to Dalton and inform Lydia that her father was currently not speaking to her. 'Though, if it does still upset you, that says a lot.'

'No I... what? In what way?' He sounded genuinely curious now, not so much angry anymore.

Grace shrugged. 'I dunno, maybe deep down you still harbour feelings for this elusive first husband of yours I know nothing about.'

'Of course I do.' Blaine said. 'I... he was... you don't marry people you aren't in love with and despite everything... you never fall completely out of love. People who say they have were never truly in love to begin with.'

'Oh...' Grace wondered if her dad felt the same way about Blaine. 'Do you ever think about him? About where he is and what he's up to?'

There was a long silence

'All the time.' He said softly. 'But I've got Mason now, and he's amazing.'

'Ok.'

Grace hadn't pressed the topic any further. But in it, she'd seen a glimpse of hope. Blaine was still clearly head over heels for her dad… for Kurt, and she'd be damned if she didn't get them back together somehow. They pulled up in front of Dalton… Grace had gotten a message from Lydia halfway through the car trip to say she was already back in their room and unpacking.

'And here we are.' Blaine said, putting the car into park.

'Back to the world of uniforms and homework. Joy.' Grace muttered.

'I thought you were enjoying Dalton.'

'I am. But that doesn't mean I've come around on the uniform issue… or that I now magically enjoy being given work to do in my own time.'

'Right. Of course.' Blaine said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, Grace followed quickly.

He pulled her small duffle bag out of the car and she quickly took it from him, slinging the strap over her shoulder. Blaine turned back to her and paused for a moment.

'So… I guess I'll see you for Thanksgiving?' He asked.

Grace nodded, knowing that, that wouldn't quite be the case. 'It was… this weekend was really great.'

A smile slowly spread across Blaine's face. 'It was wasn't it? Dalton's changed you… I like it.'

'Me too.' Grace said softly

'Will you give your old man a hug?'

She nodded and wordlessly stepped forward into his arms. Briefly imagining a world where it was a normal thing for her to hug Blaine Anderson, to call him Papa, or Daddy, or something… then he let go and the moment passed.

'I'll miss you.' She said.

'I'll miss you too.' Blaine said with a soft, sad smile.

'Alright, well… call me when you get home so I know you got there safely.'

He looked surprised for a moment but then nodded. 'Yeah, I will. Bye.'

'Goodbye.'

x x x

When Grace finally got to her dorm she pushed open the door, momentarily shocked to see Lydia sitting there on her bed.

'Hey.' she said softly.

Lydia looked up. 'Hi.'

There was a moment of silence, then Lydia stood up and hugged Grace tightly.

'Oh my god that was the most insane weekend.'

'I know. ' Grace hugged her back. 'So insane. You have to learn how to play guitar.'

'What?' Lydia pulled back abruptly. 'What are you talking about?'

'Uh...' grace looked nervous. 'There might have been an incident with a guitar and Blaine catching me playing it and I had to say that I, that is, youlearnt how to play. Apparently you're naturally gifted.'

'You've ruined my life.' Lydia muttered. 'I can't... I just my fingers just don't go that way and now, he must have been so excited about it. And now at Thanksgiving we're going to have to do a duet and I...'

'Hey, it's ok.' Grace said, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Lydia's shoulder. 'You've got nearly three months. Three whole months and I've been paying for years, I can teach you. Don't worry.'

'You're right, you're... Yeah, that's aright. We've got time. Anyway, um speaking of potential disasters...' Lydia said, trailing off.

Grace eyed her suspiciously. 'What?' she asked.

'Popknowsaboutus.' she said in a hurry.

'Excuse me, what did you say? Because it kind of sounded like you said-'

'Pop knows about us.' Lydia repeated a little slower.

'Um. What?' Grace was stunned; her brain was trying to process the information. But it just couldn't seem to.

'He... When we were on the phone... I guess he overheard it and...? So, he knows.'

'He doesn't just know, he knows we switched places too.'

'Yeah.'

'Did he tell Dad?'

Lydia shook her head. 'He said he wouldn't. But he also said we need to, and soon.'

'Of course he did.' Grace sighed. 'If we haven't told them by Thanksgiving he'll pull the 'I'll tell your father for you'card. But ok, ok we've got a bit of time, it's not the end of the world.'

'Not quite anyway.' Lydia said. She moved to sit down on her bed with a sigh. The weekend had actually been rather draining, more than she'd really thought it would be and now that she was back at Dalton she was ready to crash. 'Your family is um... Really nice though.' she offered awkwardly.

'You think so?' Grace beamed at her.

'Yeah... like, easy to get along with and stuff.'

Grace squealed. 'I'm so glad you liked them.'

'Really?'

'Well... If all goes according to plan, they'll be your family too.'

'Right.' Lydia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Grace's optimism. 'Speaking of... What is the guy like?'

'Who? Mason?'

'Yeah.'

'Um...' Grace paused. 'He's kind of hot actually.'

'Really? Are you really just... Really? That's the only impression he made?'

'Yeah, pretty much.' Grace said. 'I mean, he came across as pleasant, but wow, he acted like he was talking to a child on the off occasion he actually asked me anything. And I'm not just saying this because I want Blaine to dump him for Dad, but it seemed like there was a lot more to him he wasn't showing.'

'What do you mean?'

'I don't know! Just... He didn't feel completely trustworthy.'

'So you're saying my Dad has poor taste in character.'

'No! I'm not, god do you always read this much into things? I just... There was just something off about Mason ok, not necessarily like, really bad guy, just... More like may be more interested in the pay check your dad gets than actually in him. Which is his lost, because Blaine's an awesome guy.'

'Ok… so, what's the plan now?'

'I have absolutely no idea.'

x x x

Wes had noticed. Oh had he noticed. It was so difficult not to when both girls were in his class. Lydia was Blaine's daughter. It had actually been a long time since he'd seen her, but she and Blaine were like family, so he knew her well. Which is why it was very hard to not notice the other teenage girl who looked exactly like her, and that she was a Hummel. Grace Hummel. Of all names to have. He knew that name. He knew it because fifteen years ago Blaine had called him.

'Yeah, they were born just a few hours ago, I wanted to let you know before we put it on Facebook. Lydia and Grace. They're beautiful Wes, absolutely beautiful. I'm so in love with them. Is that even possible? I didn't think I could love anyone more than Kurt, but these girls… '

Six months later Blaine had arrived on his doorstep asking for a place to crash until he found a house. With just one little baby in his arms.

Blaine had only ever talked about it with him once, and he was drunk. He'd mumbled about how he hated it. How he wished he could see Grace growing up as well, and it killed him that the sisters would never know each other. Wes hadn't known what to say, because it was the first (and only) time Blaine had ever spoken about the 'arrangement' he and Kurt had come up with. If his friend had been sober he would have told him what he really thought. But he'd been drunk, and so Wes had kept his thoughts to himself.

Now they were both at Dalton and from the second Wes had seen them both he knew it was only a matter of time before they found out.

And sure enough, just as he had thought, after a few, um, mishaps… the girls became attached at the hip. One was never seen without the other, and it ended up making it even harder to tell them apart. But something about their newfound attachment made Wes wonder if they had worked it out. And if they had… he was a little surprised that Lydia hadn't come to him to confront him about it.

It was phone call from Blaine one Monday afternoon that told him all he needed to know; the girls did in fact know who they were.

'You'll never guess what happened Wes.'

'What?'

'Lydia finally showed an interest in playing guitar.'

'What?' Wes frowned. Lydia hadn't shown any interest in touching a guitar since the term had started. And he'd tried, every single practical lesson they'd had, he tried. She'd just scrunched up her nose and said she'd sing instead.

'I don't know what happened, but I found her playing and Wes... She was reallygood. Has a beautiful voice too. She sound so much like-' he stopped short and Wes sighed in sympathy. 'Never mind. Her voice is really beautiful.'

'I don't know what to tell you.' Aside from it's your other daughter who is good on the guitar,but he didn't think it was his place to tell Blaine, not yet anyway.

'I just wanted to share that with you. I know she's in your music class and I have no idea what you've done, but I'm sure you were an influence.'

He sighed. He wanted to tell Blaine so, so badly. 'It's all her. Not me.' He lied. 'Maybe she's still practicing for her grand music class debut.'

'Oh…' Blaine said, sounding a little surprised. 'I was sure she was just a little too shy to admit that you'd help her learn.'

'Nope. It definitely wasn't me. I haven't been able to get her to pick up guitar all term.'

'Huh. Now I wish I'd recorded it so you see it. She really was really good. Maybe she's known how to play all along and just never let me know.'

'Maybe.' Wes mused… he already knew what had happened though. It wasn't Lydia who Blaine had found playing. It was Grace.

'Anyway, how is she settling in at school anyway? She didn't talk about it too much. But she did seem, I don't know, happier? It was nice to see.'

'Yeah, she seems to be doing just fine. I mean, I only see her for fifty minutes four times a week, but from that, she seems to be settling it well.' Wes had a feeling the school hadn't contacted him about the fight in the cafeteria that lead to her sharing a room with her twin sister…

'Good. That's… yeah, that's good, I'm glad. I think Dalton will be really good for her.'

'Yeah… me too.' Wes agreed.

The said their goodbyes and hung up. Wes leant back in his chair and sighed.


	8. Giving Thanks

They were both going home for thanksgiving weekend. It had been months since they'd seen their own families, having switched in the first weekend they were able to go home and neither had had a chance to go home any other weekend since. But it was Thanksgiving, so they were going to their own homes, Lydia to her dad, Blaine and Grace would be going back to her grandparents place again where Kurt would be.

It had been  _months_  now of knowing, and not telling, and they'd both decided that this time they would. At the end of the weekend they'd sit down with their father's and tell them what they knew. The plan had mostly come about because Grace suspected that her Pop would make her tell her father anyway, and at least this way they would know both of their dads would know.

Wednesday afternoon consisted of waiting in the school's large foyer waiting to be picked up. Lydia and Grace were sitting next to each other when Mr Montgomery, their music teacher walked past.

'Have a good holiday girls.' He said, giving them both a wink.

'You too sir.' They said simultaneously.

He laughed and disappeared into a teacher's staff room. Grace frowned and looked to Lydia, who was distinctly paler.

'What?' Grace asked her.

'I think he knows.'

'Knows what?'

'About us… Wes is an old family friend, he and Dad have known each other since they were teenagers.'

'Oh…'

'Lydia Anderson,' A teacher's voice came over the intercom in the room.

Lydia sighed. 'Alright, that's me. I'll see you on Monday.'

Grace nodded, and stood up with her sister giving her a tight hug. 'Everything could be different by then.'

'Everything  _will_  be different by then.' Lydia said.

They just didn't know how different.

**x x x**

Grace was more than shocked when she walked out to the front of the school to find her dad standing there waiting. She let out a squeal and ran over to him, launching herself at Kurt, wrapping her arms around his neck. He laughed and lifted her off the ground twirling her around.

'I missed you Kiddo.' He said.

'I missed you too Dad, so, so much.' She landed back on the ground with both feet and Kurt pulled back a little to look at her.

'Are you… crying?' he asked.

'Shut up!' She said, wiping at the tears in her eyes. Only now it was beginning to hit her that it had been a little over three months since she'd last seen him, and she missed him so much. She missed dropping into his work room and watching him sketch and sew. She missed cookie-dough ice cream and musical movie nights. She missed going for long walks through central park just because it was  _there_  and they could. 'It's been forever.'

'It really has. Come on, let's get in the car and you can tell me everything about school.'

'Ok.'

'What happened to the blonde in your hair' Kurt asked as they turned on the free-way to get back to Lima.

'Oh…' Grace tugged at her hair a little self consciously. 'I um, I prefer it brown… the blonde was high maintenance.'

'It looks good either way. So… what's been going on at school? Any juicy gossip?'

'Well… not a lot. But there was the saga of the disappearing doorknobs.'

'Tell me all about it.'

Grace grinned and launched into a story of the day some of The Warblers snuck into the girl's dorms and stole all the door handles. Kurt in turned shared some of the funnier stories from his office.

When they finally got to Lima, her grandparents were there waiting for them with open arms and for a moment Grace forced herself to forget about the impending drama, and just enjoy the next day with her family.

**x x x**

When they'd first arrived home, Lydia noticed that the house smelt like pumpkin and spices, and it was much warmer and more inviting than she ever remembered. Whether it was the heater that was on to cut out the slight chill from outside, or the fact that it had been  _months_  since she'd stepped inside her home she didn't quite know, and didn't quite care. She was happy to be back.

Until Thanksgiving dinner the next day.

Her dad had invited Mason, who Lydia had secretly nicknamed 'the boytoy', to join them for dinner. The whole evening was awkward and uncomfortable. Mason wasn't making much of an impression on her.

Dinner was finished, and Lydia started clearing the table off, breathing a sigh of relief that the night was finally over.

'Let's go into the living room for hot chocolate.' Blaine suggested as Lydia cleared the last of the plated away. She sighed… apparently the night wasn't  _quite_  over for her after all.

'That sounds perfect.' Mason said.

Lydia resisted rolling her eyes at the man her dad was seeing and instead smiled at Blaine. 'Do you want to go in and I can make them?' She asked.

'No, no. I'll make them.' Blaine said, standing up. 'Why don't the two of you head on into the living room and get to know each other better.'

'Ok.' Lydia said, still forcing the smile, her Dad would never see through it. She took off into the living room, not bothering to wait and see if Mason was following. She heard her dad and Mason exchanging a few words as she sat down on the couch and checked her phone (no messages, of course).

'Lydia, right?' Mason asked as he sat down on the couch adjacent to her.

Lydia didn't even bother to hide the fact that she was unimpressed.

'You're dating my dad and you have to  _ask_  that?' she said.

'Tell me about yourself.' He breezed on, ignoring her snide tone.

'I'm a freshman in high school.'

'Right. What school do you go to again? Dayton?'

'Dalton.'

'Yes. That's the one. It sounds expensive.'

Lydia shrugged. 'I'm not actually too sure what the fees are.'

'Right. But, surely you'd be better off at the local high school and Blai- your father can put the money to better use.'

'What? Like spending it on  _you_  his new boytoy? How old are you anyway?'

'Twenty-seven. But that's neither here nor there. I just mean, it's a little rude of you to be eating up all of his money the way you are by going to that expensive school.'

'My father will spend his money how he see's fit.' Lydia said sternly, glaring at Mason. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Besides, it wasn't like she had  _chosen_  Dalton… not that she'd tell him that now. But he couldn't just walk into her… their lives and start telling them how to live. Her dad had gotten by just fine on his own for fifteen years. He didn't need this Mason guys advice. Lydia already hated him. She didn't bother acknowledging his response and instead pulled out her phone, typing a quick message to Grace.

' _I hate this guy. You're right. We need to break them up because he's awful. I'll come up with a plan. Hope you're having a great thanksgiving. I'm thankful that our dad's sent us to the same school._ '

'Lydia Anderson… put it away.' Blaine said sternly, setting a cup a steaming hot chocolate onto the coffee table in front of her.

'Sorry.' She muttered, sliding it back into her pocket.

'Kid's and technology these days huh?' Mason said.

'Please, how different is my generation to yours.' Lydia scoffed. 'I mean, Dad's an old man now… but don't tell me you weren't always obsessed with the latest gadgets out. And anyway, it's called communication. It's healthy.'

'Not when you can be communicating with those in the same room.' Blaine said, oblivious to the glares Lydia and Mason were giving each other. He said down on the couch next to Mason, sitting close, and grabbed his free hand. 'And speaking of communication with those in the room, Lyds, I've got something to tell you.'

'Nothing that starts with those words ends well.' Lydia muttered.

'What was that?'

'Nothing…' Lydia said. 'What is it?'

'Well… I'm sure you've noticed that Mason was here for thanksgiving.'

'What? Oh my god.  _When_?' Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

'Lydia.' Blaine gave her his warning tone… the one that usually meant one more comment like that and she'd be given a punishment.

'Ok, sorry. Continue.'

'Well… I'd like Mason to be around for many more Thanksgivings, and Christmas's and… other holidays, and birthdays. So… sweetie… we're getting married.'

There was dead silence through the room as Blaine grabbed his now fiancé's hand and grinned at his daughter. Lydia's mind was racing at a million miles an hour as she tried to comprehend what was going on. Married. Her dad was getting married?

'No.' She said finally.

The grin slowly slipped off Blaine's face. 'What?'

'No.' She shook her head. 'You… you can't. You just can't.'

'Lydia…'

'You're ruining everything!' She stood up abruptly. 'Why would you do this? Things were just fine the way they were.'

She run up to her room, knowing her dad was right behind her and stayed there, not responding to his knocking, or pleading with her. She didn't want this. She didn't want this Mason guy in her family. She wanted to get through Thanksgiving weekend, tell her dad she knew about Grace, and Kurt and begin the path of them all being reunited. Him proposing to Mason ruined that.

Eventually her dad said through the door. 'I'm here whenever you're ready to talk.' And she heard him walk away back down the stairs. Before she could really think about what she was doing she'd grabbed her wallet, and snuck out of her room, down the stairs and out the door without anyone noticing. Her plan was vague… but she knew where she needed to be, and it was away from her house.

**x x x**

They'd long ago finished their dinner, and the table had been cleared, and now, the Hummel-Hudson clan, all eight of them sat around the dining table chatting and laughing.

Grace loved these moments, they were rare, but they were great. She loved casting side-long glances and eye-rolls with her cousins Will and Sarah and their parents made terrible jokes and reminisced on all the sorts of trouble they used to get into. She loved getting to hear their stories, and sharing about a couple of her own adventures at Dalton. She loved how by the end of the weekend she'd ready to hit at least several of them for driving her crazy.

Out of nowhere the doorbell rang. The chatter paused for a moment.

'We're not expecting anybody…' Burt said, glancing at Carole to confirm the fact.

'I'll get it.' Kurt said, as the doorbell rang a second time.

As he walked out of the room the chatter started back up quickly. He opened the front door with a smile, which quickly disappeared.

'Grace?' He asked in confusion. Because standing in front of him was a teenage girl who looked exactly like his daughter. He frowned, turning back to where the dining room was, because his daughter, Grace had been right there, and now she was… 'I, uh…'

As he stared at the girl in front of him, her arms curled around her stomach as though she was trying to shrink, head bowed slightly as she looked up at Kurt cautiously. Almost already flinching, at harsh words he hadn't said.

He couldn't form a coherent thought as he tried to put the pieces together. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew who she was.

'Kurt, how about we get started on the hot drinks.' Suddenly his dad was behind him wrapping his arm around his shoulder. 'Come on.'

A shell shocked Kurt was steered away and Grace took his place at the door.

'Lydia! What are you doing here?'

'I um…' She blinked, as if suddenly realising where she actually was. 'Oh my God, I interrupted your thanksgiving. I'm sorry.'

'Why don't you come in?' Grace asked.

Lydia nodded and followed Grace into the front living room. There was no sign of Kurt or Burt anywhere, and there were curious faces peering in from the dining room as they wondered what was going on.

'What happened?' Grace asked.

Lydia took a deep breath, steadying herself. 'He's getting married.'

**x x x**

Once in the kitchen Kurt let out a shaky breath. He looked down at his hands, they were shaking uncontrollably and he wasn't even sure how he was still standing.

'You alright?' Burt asked.

'No.' Kurt shook his head. 'No. I'm so far from alright. I… how? How is she here?'

'I'm going to have to let them tell you the story.'

Kurt's head snapped up at that. 'You knew?' he asked.

'Come on… you go back into the living room and let them explain, I'll debrief everyone else, maybe get Finn to get going, because it looks like we've got a long night ahead of us.'

Kurt nodded numbly and went out to the living room. It was shocking to see both the girls there, sitting next to each other. They were nearly identical and he struggle to tell who was who.

As Kurt walked into the room he took a shaky breath. Pausing for a moment before he heard,

'He's getting married.'

'Who's getting married?' he asked, his voice raw and hollow because he already knew the answer.

She stood up quickly, startled at the sound of his voice.

'Kurt.' she said.

When her blue eyes met his, his heart leapt into his throat. It was her. His baby girl. Lydia. Who he'd spent every day of the past fifteen years missing and aching for. He might have started crying, he didn't even know.

'Lydia, it's really you.' he choked out.

She nodded mutely.

'Oh, honey... you have no idea how happy I am to be seeing you.'

Lydia didn't say anything.

'Can I… can I hug you?' he asked, feeling a little silly and self-conscious that all of a sudden he was so nervous about how the girl would react. To his relief Lydia nodded mutely and he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. For a moment she was still. Then she brought her arms up around his waist and hugged him back tightly. After a moment he realised she was shaking with sobs and crying into his shoulder. As much as his heart broke that the first time he met his daughter, he also felt a little warm that she felt safe enough to cry in front of him. He held her a little tighter and just let her cry.

Grace took the liberty of seeing her Uncle Finn, Aunt Kate and her cousins out the door, with a promise to Finn to have someone call him later to let him know that things were ok.

'Here's some water.' Burt said, placing some glasses on the coffee table. 'I'll let you sort it out, we'll just be upstairs, yell if you need anything.'

Kurt nodded as Lydia removed herself from his arms. Burt and Carole walked up the stairs, leaving Kurt alone for the first time in fifteen years, with his two daughters. He sat down and took a deep breath.

'Ok… I need one, or both of you to explain this to me now, please.' He said, trying to sound as calm as he possibly could. Because the scenario in front of him is one he never even dared to imagine happening. Both of them, together again…

'We… we met at school.' Grace started slowly. 'I guess… I don't know. You both sent us to Dalton and it was kind of hard to ignore someone who looks exactly like you. And um, then we, well, there was an incident that ended with us having to share a room, and… everything kind of revealed itself in the end.'

'And how… how long ago?' He asked.

Grace looked down at her lap, unable to look her father in the eyes. 'About two weeks into the semester.'

'Actually…' Lydia said softly, speaking up for the first time. 'The last time, um, Grace came home… it was actually me.'

'What?' Kurt asked, his brain was unable to catch up and believe what he thought she'd just said.

'Lydia came here, the last time you were here from New York. And I um… I went to Lydia's.'

'Oh…' Kurt was stilled stunned. 'When I'm not so overwhelmed with information I think there'll be a punishment for you, Grace, that is. Lydia I don't think I could, or should… speaking of…' He trailed off for a moment, and cleared his throat before talking. 'Does B- your… does he know where you are?'

The way the blood drained from Lydia told him everything he needed to know. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself and clear his head. If it had been Grace… if she had just taken off, after dark, on  _Thanksgiving_ , without giving him a word of where she was going he would have been not only livid, but worried out of his mind.

'Have you got your cell phone?'

She nodded.

'Ok, you need to call him, tell him where you are, and… you can spend the night if you want. We'll take you home tomorrow.'

Kurt watched her as she pulled her phone out and called her dad's number.

He picked up on the second ring.

'Lydia?'

'Yes. Dad… Hi I-'

'Where the hell are you? Do you have any idea how worried I am?'

'I'm fine, honestly. I… I'm at friend's house.'

'What friend? Where? I'm coming to get you right now.'

'No. No, please don't. I… don't want you to.'

'Lydia…'

'Please Dad, just… one night. I'm in Lima. I'm safe. I'll talk to you tomorrow.'

'Lydia, we are not finished with conversation you are-'

'Bye Dad.' She hung up quickly and turned back to see Grace and Kurt watching her.

'Are you ok?' Grace asked quietly.

'Not really.' Lydia let out a shaky breath. 'I just wish he would listen to me, you know?'

'It's ok if you need to cry.'

'I don't. I'm fine. I… I'm, I'll be alright.' She said.

'What happened?' Kurt asked, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

'My Dad is getting married.'

Kurt's heart sunk. Though he knew he had no right to feel the way he did… his heart broke a little at hearing her words. Blaine was… of course he was. He'd probably found someone amazing, someone more ready to be married, someone who was going to do all the things he never did… someone who was going to make him happy. Kurt longed to be that person. But he wasn't. Not anymore. He hadn't been the one to truly make Blaine happy since they were seventeen.

'To Mason?' Grace asked, scrunching up her face.

'You know him?' Kurt asked, unable to stop himself.

"I met him when we… uh, when we switched. He's an ass.'

'Grace, language.' Kurt said half-heartedly. He wouldn't admit out loud that he was a little thrilled to hear her say as much.

'He is though.' Lydia agreed. 'He called me rude and ungrateful just because Dad is paying for me to go to Dalton, and so obviously thinks that the money should be spent on him instead. And just… I have no idea what Dad sees in him. He's been brainwashed, I swear.'

'And now Blaine's marrying him.' Grace said.

Lydia nodded. 'I just… I got so mad. Because he didn't… he didn't even ask me what I thought before just proposing to him and he's practically a completely stranger to me. I don't know him. Did he really think one weekend was a enough? It wasn't really me, but even if it was… he's just bringing a stranger into my life and he can't even see why it upsets me.' She wiped furiously at the tears that now wouldn't stop falling. 'I hate it. I've always felt like a second thought to him and now I don't just feel like I am. I know I am.'

'Honey, you're not. I promise you you're not.' Kurt got up and moved so he was sitting on the couch next to Lydia. Boundaries be damned. His daughter was hurt and upset and he was going to comfort her. He wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into his shoulder trying to contain soft sniffles. 'You fa- Blaine struggles sometimes with expressing how he feels, did he ever tell you about 'The Gap Attack.'?'

Lydia shook her head 'no' against his shoulder.

'Well, this was right back when we first met. He'd met a guy, a college student… this was when he was a sophomore, mind you. And he wanted to let the guy know how much he liked him, through song… because that's a nice romantic gesture right?'

Lydia nodded.

'Yeah, so, he got all of The Warblers to help him, with a flash mob in this store this guy worked in… and sang this song called When I Get You Alone, which um… well, I like to think that neither of you have any idea of that kind of stuff, so I'll let you look up the lyrics later. But let's just say, it wasn't the song for the romantic gesture he was going for. My point is that Blaine isn't the best at finding ways to express how he feels. I… I haven't spoken to him in, well, since you girls were just tiny little things. But he's a good man and I know, without a shadow of a doubt that he loves you. You're not a second thought.'

'No offense Kurt, but I don't think he's the same man you knew when you were teenagers.' Lydia said, pulling away from him. 'But thank you for trying. It's kind of late isn't it? I don't want to impose, but… I don't really have anywhere else to go.'

'We can share my bed.' Grace said. 'I'm sure you know where the room is. I'll just help dad clean this up and join you.' She said.

Lydia took the hint and went off upstairs without a backwards glance. Grace and Kurt were left alone clearing up empty mugs and putting them in the dishwasher. The silence between them was rather tense as they both mulled over the events of the evening.

'Well, um, good night then.' Grace said softly once they were done.

'Grace.' Kurt said.

She waited silently for him to continue.

'Don't think you're off the hook for this.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, you should have told me as soon as you knew. In fact, both of your girls should have told both of us.'

Grace's jaw dropped. 'Are you freaking kidding me right now Dad?'

'Don't use that tone with me.'

'You're the one's who tore us apart, who kept the fact that I have a twin sister a secret for nearly fifteen years. In fact, it would have been my whole life right? You were never going to tell me. So… no. I shouldn't have told you anything. And I have  _every_  right to be upset and angry at you right now. Ok.'

'Grace, I-'

'Don't want to hear it right now, Dad. Good night.'

 


	9. Now We Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually thought I got myself update on this site with this fic... that is apparently not the case, so here is another chapter.

When Kurt woke up the next morning he felt dazed and confused and for the longest time he couldn't work out why.

And then he did.

Lydia. His little girl Lydia had shown up at his father's front door last night in tears, because… Blaine was engaged.

That part of the fact shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. He and Blaine were over. They had been for a very, very long time, despite the fact it still felt like only yesterday he'd pushed Blaine out of his life and watched him walk away. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He didn't know how to do this. He didn't know what the next step was. He knew what would be fair and right to do, but… that involved seeing Blaine. And he wasn't sure how he was supposed to handle that. He didn't feel ready for that.

Reluctantly Kurt pulled himself out of bed. A coffee would help him wake up and clear his head. He walked down stairs to the kitchen, where his was already sitting at the table with a steaming hot coffee and newspaper in front of him.

'You know, I think you're one of the only people in the world left still reading the printed newspaper.' He said lightly, maybe he could manage to steer the conversation away from the twin issue at hand.

'That tablet thing you got me for my birthday hurts my eyes after too long.' Burt grunted.

'You get used to it.' Kurt sighed, grabbing a mug and pouring himself coffee.

'So are you going to bring it up or will I?' Burt asked after a moment of silence.

Kurt sighed and sat down at the table across from his father. 'I screwed up.' He said.

'Yep.' Burt decided to be blunt.

'I… I officially have no idea what I'm doing anymore.' He admitted.

'I'm not going to tell you what to do.' Burt said standing up and placing his empty mug in the sink. 'But I hope you make the right decision.'

Kurt knew what the right decision was. He just didn't want to do it, as much as he knew he had to. He'd be happy to send Lydia home (with a promise that she'd come a visit when she could) and not see Blaine, not mention to Blaine, and keep the secret of the girls knowing between the three of them. But that wouldn't be fair.

He waited until the girls got up in their own time, and shared with them what was going to happen. He was going to drive the three of them back to Lydia's place, and explain to Blaine exactly what happened. The full story. And from there... Well, it was anything goes.

Kurt sincerely hoped Blaine would understand that they couldn't separate the two girls again, ever. And hoped that between them they'd be able to come up with some sort of plan of how to approach everything. They were both mature adults, slowly approaching 40 and they could sort it out. Kurt could stand to see his ex for a few minutes every few weeks if it meant his daughters were happy. He could do that. For them… only for the girls.

The drive felt extremely long, the stretches of highway went on forever, until finally they were at the turn off and navigating through back streets and large properties. As soon as they pulled up to the large house on acreage, it felt like the drive had gone by far too quickly. Kurt shut off the engine and tool a few deep breaths. He could do this.

'Um, dad, are you ok?' Grace asked.

'What? I'm fine. I... Ok, let's do this.' he said. He opened the door and got out of the car before he could think twice about what he was doing.

The girls quickly followed him, Lydia took the lead to the front door and had the liberty to knock, instead of just barging in.

The door swung open about five seconds later.

Kurt's heart fell right down to his stomach. Blaine was... Blaine looked... His hair was left wild. Gone was the gel trap he'd kept it in for years, and the curls bounced off his forehead in a ridiculous manner that suited him better than words Kurt could find. He was slightly scruffy, it looked as though he'd opted out of shaving for a couple of days and Kurt wondered if this was a usual look for him, or just for the holidays. He was a little bulkier with more muscle now, not quite as thin and lithe as Kurt remembered him, and the navy blue shirt he was wearing clung ever so slightly to his muscular frame. Making Kurt swallow hard as he took it all him.

Kurt wouldn't have been able to speak even if he tried as he realised that the entire drive he'd been hoping that maybe Blaine had lost his charming good looks over the years. But he hadn't. Instead he looked better than ever, even with slightly red, tired looking eyes. And Kurt hated him a little for it.

'Lydia, oh my God.' Blaine enveloped his daughter in a tight hug, taking no heed of the others before him. 'I was so worried about you.'

'It was only one night.' Lydia said, her voice muffled by Blaine's chest, which she was pulled tightly against. 'And I was with good people.'

'I don't care, I don't know them. You have  _no_  idea how panicked I've been. Lydia, no matter how upset you are you can't just go running off to a strange family I've never met.'

'Actually...' Lydia pulled herself away from her father. 'You kind of do know them.'

It was only then Blaine paid attention to who had come to drop her off. His gaze first landed on Grace, a look of confusion crossed his face, before his eyes flicked up to Kurt.

If Kurt had been nervous before it was nothing compared to now. Blaine's rich, hazel eyes stared right into his, and Kurt could see him trying to process everything and struggling. He said the only thing that came to his mind.

'Surprise.'

'I...' Blaine started and stopped. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. It didn't work. 'How?'

'It's a long story.' Lydia said. 'You should probably invite them in.'

'Right.' he nodded. 'Right. Mason.' he said as a look of horror crossed his face. 'I... Living room, I have to take care of something really quick.'

Lydia looked back at Grace and Kurt and shrugged. She led them into the living room of the house while Blaine disappeared elsewhere. The three of them sat in a heavy silence and waited.

Blaine walked straight into the kitchen and took a deep, shaky breath. His heart was beating at a million miles an hour.

Was this what a panic attack felt like? His breathing become shallower and shallower and his hands were shaking something fierce.

Kurt.

Kurt was in his living room.

Right now. Kurt Hummel sat in his living room.

And not alone.

No. Kurt was with their two daughters. The both of them. Lydia  _and_ Grace were in his living room and…

Wow. He didn't remember breathing being so difficult.

And dammit why did Kurt have to look so good?

He was dressed casually, in tight jeans, and a plain knit jumper. But his legs were just as long, his eyes just as bright… and looking at Kurt again for the first time in fourteen years made Blaine feel like he was drowning.

Several moments later he'd calmed down a bit more and was able to focus on the task at hand. Kurt. Girls. Mason.

Mason.

In a panic Blaine raced up the stairs, where Mason was, hopefully, still lying in bed (he wasn't exactly an early riser). He slowed down as he reached his room, and sure enough Mason was lying there, on his back, his phone in his hands, proper up on his chest as he scrolled through something. Blaine knocked quietly announcing his presence.

'Morning sleepy.' He said.

Mason looked up from his phone and over at Blaine, grinning when he saw him.

'Hey.' He sat up. 'What's up?'

'Uh… Lydia has returned.'

'Good. Good. That's… I'm glad she's returned.'

'Yeah… well, there are some things we need to sort out, it can't really wait and I think that… maybe it would be better if you left for now.'

'Oh… are you sure?' Mason asked. 'I mean, I am your fiancé… maybe I should start to get to know your daughter.'

'I want you to. But, not under these circumstances. I know my daughter; it could get a little ugly.'

Mason frowned. 'In what way?'

Blaine sighed and sat down on the bed. 'Just in the… maybe let me handle the teenage daughter stuff for now kind of way. I know this whole debacle has been over, well, us and I think it's going to be easier to talk to her without you here.' He wondered, briefly, if he should tell Mason the truth, and tell him about Grace and Kurt. But considering he was still trying to wrap his head around things himself he chose against it. He'd deal with it all later.

'Ok… so, I guess I'll go into town for the day and come back later.'

Blaine bit his lip.

'Tomorrow?' Mason asked, his eyebrows raised. 'Blaine, hon, we're  _engaged_. Your problems are my problems.'

Blaine nodded. 'You're right. Yeah. But… Lydia is my daughter, and that makes this solely my problem, for now.'

'Fine.' Mason sighed. 'I'll get dressed, go home and see you tomorrow.'

'Thank you, Mase.'

'You're welcome.' Mason said rolling his eyes. He got out of bed, and walked around to Blaine's side and kissed him softly on the lips. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

'And Mase,' Blaine said.

'Yeah?'

'Please use the back door.'

'Fine. I love you.'

Blaine nodded, swallowing thickly. Right now, with Kurt sitting in his living he couldn't… he tried, but he couldn't.

'You too.' He managed to get out instead.

x x x

The three of them sat in the living room in silence.

Kurt's palms were sweating. He couldn't think of a time he'd ever been so anxious.

Fourteen years and three months. That was how long it had been since he saw Blaine.

Fourteen years… god that was a long time.

He was sure that he'd thought about Blaine every single day since they split up. Every time he looked at Grace he was reminded of Lydia, and was then reminded of Blaine.  
The man he'd planned to have a family with long, long ago.

Instead they'd both ended up with broken fragments of what could have been.

'Hey…' Blaine slowly walked into the room, and all three heads turned to him.

Kurt took a deep breath to steady himself as Blaine took a seat in an empty armchair.

'So…' Blaine said. 'I think I need to be caught up.'

'Yeah… yeah.' Kurt nodded. 'I think that… yeah…'

Grace and Lydia exchanged glances, they wore identical looks of exasperation.

'Maybe we should start.' Grace said tentatively.

Blaine turned his gaze to her. 'Grace?'

She nodded.

His face turned a little softer 'I can't believe how grown up you are. Look at you, you're practically an adult.'

'Ok, let's not get ahead of ourselves.' Kurt said quickly. 'She's still a child. Both of them are.'

'Dad, I'm  **fifteen,**  I'm hardly a little kid.' Grace huffed indignantly.

'So, anyway, it all started on our first day at Dalton.' Lydia interrupted quickly, she was eager to get back on topic, because it was about time she heard a good explanation for why they'd done what they'd done.

'Right, yes.' Grace said. 'Day one, people kept mixing us up.'

They explained their story, how they both resented the other, the fight they'd had (which after hearing Blaine decided he was going to tell the Dalton faculty he didn't appreciate not being made aware when his daughter was physically assaulted, even if it was by the girl who turned out to be her twin sister), the photo Grace had had (which after hearing Kurt raised an eyebrow at... he had no idea where she'd even found it), discovering who they were, switching the first time...

'Wait, so... the last weekend you were home,' Blaine looked at Lydia. 'It was actually you, Grace?'

'Guilty as charged.'

'God. No wonder you were so upset last night.' Blaine was looking at his daughter again. 'I told you I was marrying someone you'd never met before. I'm so sorry Lydia. If I'd had know I would've-'

'Unbelievable.' Lydia muttered.

'What was that?'

'I said, unbelievable. As is, I cannot believe what you just said.'

'Lydia, I- what do you mean?'

'What would you have done if you'd known? Waited until Christmas to tell me? Because newsflash, meeting a dude once is not enough to know them. Even if it had been me home that weekend he'd still be virtually a stranger to me, and you just want... you me to welcome him into my life with open arms? It's not going to happen. Is that why you shipped me off to boarding school? So I wasn't in the way of your love life anymore? Because right now, I think we can see there was a perfect solution for that, that wouldn't eat away at your precious money. You could have sent me to Kurt to live with him and Grace.'

Blaine looked like he'd been slapped in the face. Her stared at Lydia, completely stunned at her outburst. For a moment he had no words. No clue what to say.

'Um... Grace, Lydia, why don't you two go... somewhere else?' Kurt cut in quickly. 'Just... I don't know, go and occupy yourselves for a while. I'm sure you can do that.'

'Ok...' Grace said softly, standing up. 'Come on Lyd, you were talking about the horses and I didn't get to see them last time.'

'Fine, whatever.' Lydia stood up and stalked off, Grace quickly followed her, leaving Kurt and Blaine, for the first time in almost fifteen years, alone.

'So... is this part where you tell me it was a mistake to trust me to be a father?' Blaine asked bitterly.

Kurt smiled softly and shook his head. 'No. Not at all. It's the part where I tell you, you look really good.'

Blaine looked up from the ground. His eyes met Kurt's and his stomach swooped, just like it always had when he looked at him. Blaine sort of resented the fact that even after all this time Kurt still had that affect on him.

'So... so do you.' He said. 'Really... you... you look really good.'

'Thank you Blaine.'

Another moment of the two of them staring at each other passed. Kurt cleared his throat.

'Um... I got the girls out of the room because I thought you should be made aware of how Lydia is feeling, and I... I kind of get the sense that she's not going to willingly offer up the information to you.'

'Ok...'

'She um, she told me she feels like she's a second thought to you.'

'What?'

'She said that she doesn't feel like you really care, and... I think she was really hurt that you didn't ask her first what she thought of Mason, and you bringing him into your lives in such a way. I'm not pretending I know anything about your relationship with her, this is just what she told me. I know you love her, unconditionally, because that's just the sort of man you are. But I don't think she knows it.'

Blaine ran his hands through his hair, clearly distressed. 'And I suppose you're just winning father of the year right?'

'No, Blaine that's not-'

'I mean, you must be. You have a great relationship with your daughter, so great that mine is running to you for help. I bet you're loving this so much.'

'No. I'm not loving this at all actually. I'm not loving that  _our_ daughter's took months to tell us they knew about each other. I'm not loving that last night Lydia came to my door in tears because you're getting married. I don't love it at all. I hate all of this. This whole situation.'

Blaine sighed. 'Sorry, I just... I have no idea what to do. I never do. I'm not cut out for raising a kid. It was fine when it was just feed her, change her, get her to sleep... but now... I know nothing about girls, especially teenage ones. I don't know how to communicate with her, there's like this giant wall and, the worst part about it is that you were right.'

'About what?' Kurt dared to asked.

'You should have taken them both in the first place.'

'Don't say that.' Kurt said. 'Don't you ever say that.'

' _You_  did.'

'I was angry. But even through that I saw that both of them meant the world to you, and I knew that it would break you if you never saw them again.'

'But I...'

'But nothing Blaine. You are a good father, I know that. Lydia's a great kid. Granted, I've only known her for a handful of hours… but she is a great kid.'

'I've regretted splitting them every day since the moment I left New York.' Blaine admitted softly.

'Me too.'

'Aw, how sweet.' A voice came for the doorway.

Kurt and Blaine both looked over to see the girls watching them.

'It turns out I'm a little bit afraid of horses.' Grace said.

'And we were wondering if we could get an explanation for this whole thing.' Lydia said, stepping into the room, with Grace just behind her.

'After all, it is us you split and... we think we deserve to know why. Who knows when we'll get the two of you in the same room again?'

Kurt and Blaine glanced at each other.

'They have a right to know.' Blaine said.

Kurt sighed. 'I know... I know they do, I just... don't really like thinking about it.'

x x x

_**2018** _

'Aren't they just the cutest babies you ever saw?' Blaine asked. The two cribs were side by side, and both girls stared up at him with wonder in their eyes as they slowly took in their surroundings.

'Adorable.' Kurt said. 'They're perfect.'

'They have your eyes.' Blaine said fondly, tearing his gaze away from them and looking at Kurt. 'I love you.'

'I love-

Kurt was cut off by an all too familiar beeping noise. 'Sorry, I have to take this.' He took his phone out of his pocket and answered the call on his way out of the room.

Blaine sighed. At least, for now, he had the two little angels before him to keep his mind off things while Kurt worked insane hours. He couldn't wait for Kurt to get the promotion he was after.

**_2 Months later_ **

It had been building up for some time for Blaine, where Kurt was at, he didn't know. But this was the first time they'd been alone together since the twins were born (Rachel had agreed to baby-sit them for the night) and Kurt still had his phone glued to his ear.

'Kurt... Kurt!'

'Hold on a moment Gloria,'' Kurt covered the mouth piece of the phone and glared at Blaine. 'What?'

'This was supposed to be a night for just the two of us. Not the two of us and your entire workplace.'

'I'll be five minutes and then I'm done for the night.'

'Right, like the last five times you said that.' Blaine muttered as Kurt returned to his phone call.

Blaine sighed and began to eat his pasta, knowing it would probably have cooled down completely by the time Kurt was done if he chose to wait. It had been the same old, constant story of late. There were moments where Blaine actually forgot that he was married, that he had a husband. Because Kurt was so absent all the time. Even when he was there... he wasn't really. Just the other day, Kurt had gotten the girls mixed up, he couldn't tell which was which and... even the part time Nanny they had knew that. She was only around two days a week, and still, spent more time with them than Kurt did.

'Ok, that is out of the way, my phone is off for the night, and now I can enjoy this meal.' Kurt said brightly, missing Blaine's now sour mood.

'Alright.' He said softly, if not also a little sarcastically. If Kurt noticed his tone, he didn't comment.

They finished their meals, and Blaine quickly got up ready to clear the table, and wash the bowls, so it didn't have to be done later when Kurt grabbed his wrist.

'What are you doing?' Kurt asked.

'Cleaning up.'

'Why?'

'Because it needs to be done.'

Kurt shook his head. 'No it doesn't. Not right now. Let's just enjoy tonight.' Kurt tugged on Blaine's arm, pulling him closer and tried to draw Blaine into his lap. Blaine resisted. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong Kurt. Everything is fine. I just don't want to have to do all the washing later.'

'I'll do it later then. Let's just... go and lie on the couch and talk.'

'That's unlikely.' Blaine muttered.

'What?'

'It's unlikely... the chances of you actually cleaning up later are slim to none.'

'Blaine I... what? I'm the one who's, in your words, uptight about everything being pristine.'

'But you're also the one who spends more time in the office than me.''

'I'm trying to get a promotion, to earn more money, to provide for our daughters.'

'But you're not spending any time with them as a consequence! Is that worth it to you? Spoiling them rotten at the price of not knowing them at all?'

'What do you know about working hard to provide for a family anyway? Your Dad was handed a multi-million dollar business, and didn't have to do a thing to keep it running. And I do know them, I know what foods like they, I know the difference between a hungry cry and a please change my diaper cry.'

'Oh great, thanks for throwing the fact that I grew up a little more privileged than you right in my face. Real mature Kurt. You don't know them, you mixed them up the other day.'

'One time! I mixed them up once! I was tired, I'd had a long day, and Lydia has always had more hair than Grace, but that's quickly changing and it confused me while I was half asleep.'

'But none of this changes the fact that you aren't here. You never are and... I miss you.'

'I'm here right now Blaine.'

Blaine shook his head. 'No, you're not... you've spent more time of the phone than talking to me. When was the last time we had a proper conversation?'

'I...' Kurt stopped, the realisation flashed before his eyes. 'I just want them to have everything.'

'So do I... but I also want them to know their fathers, and I want their fathers to actually know each other. You know, one of our artists complimented me the other day and I'd forgotten how good that feels.'

'Oh, that's exactly what I want to hear.'

'What?'

'Some random guy hitting on my boyfriend. I mean, history shows that all a guy has to do is compliment your eyes and you'll jump straight into his bed without a second thought.'

'That was once! And I was seventeen, alone and lost... I cannot believe you're holding that against me right now. I thought you'd forgiven me for that.'

'Forgiving isn't forgetting, Blaine. And who knows? You did it once, who's to say you won't do it again? That you're not doing it now?'

'No. You know what Kurt? I'm not doing this right now. I'm tired of you picking fights, of you ignoring how I'm feeling and not even bothering to try and see things from my perspective right now. I'm just... I'm not. I'll see you later. And for the record… I'm your _husband_!' Blaine grabbed his keys off the table they kept by the door and slammed the door of their apartment shut.

Kurt sat there, on the couch, staring after the door for a long time. Until eventually he had to get up and clean up from dinner. As he washed the dishes, changed into his pyjamas and crawled into he kept his mind carefully blank. He didn't want to think about it. He couldn't. So he didn't. He didn't think about it at all as he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, before finally drifting off to sleep at five in the morning.

Blaine didn't come back until late the next afternoon. Rachel had already dropped the girls off, and Kurt had made up some lie to her about Blaine's whereabouts... not wanting to admit to the fight they'd had. When he walked in, Blaine threw a file down on the kitchen table.

'What is that?' Kurt asked.

'Divorce papers.'

Those words caused Kurt to stop in his tracks. His eyes met Blaine's and Blaine refused to admit how he saw Kurt's heart breaking in them.

'W-what?' Kurt asked in a choked out whisper.

'I... I actually got them a while ago.'

' _What_?'

'All we do is fight. And when we're not fighting, your working, or the girls are crying and... this isn't a marriage, Kurt. It hasn't been for a long time. I feel closer to people at work than I do to you.'

'You've actually been thinking about this?'

'Why are you surprised?'

'Because... this is just a bump in the road! Having kids isn't supposed to make things easy. It's supposed to be hard. Working to support a family is supposed to be hard.'

'Yeah, it is. But you, my husband, are not supposed to feel like a stranger to me.'

'Well then,' Kurt straightened his back as he approached the table and picked up the files. 'If this is what you want.'

'It is.'

**_3 Weeks Later_ **

'You can't take them from me!'

'Well how else is this supposed to work? You've already said you never want to see me again once this is done.'

'They're my kids.'

'No, they're our kids. Both our names are on the birth certificate.'

'It was my sperm, Blaine.'

'Yeah, what a hard task providing that must have been, being given free porn to masturbate over.'

'It's hardly free when you're ten grand for the process. Which by the way, was also provided by  _me_.'

'See, this is why we're getting divorced. You don't have the first clue about what being married means. The minute you say I do there's no more yours and mine, it's ours.'

'Can we get back to the matter at hand here? You have no right to take both my daughters away from me.'

'And neither do you. They're my daughters too, Kurt. You can't...'

Kurt bit his lip and stared at the ground. It was something... he'd thought about... not too in depth, but it had crossed his mind. It was wrong, he knew but...

'Ok? What are you thinking now?' Blaine asked.

It made Kurt's heart feel oddly heavy that despite everything, Blaine could still read him with more ease than any other person he knew.

'There are two of them.' He said quietly.

'Yeah...'

'I... we could...' He shook his head. 'Never mind. We'll find another way.'

'Split them up?' Blaine asked.

Kurt looked up at Blaine sharply. 'What? How did you...?'

'It crossed my mind too.' He shrugged. 'It makes sense doesn't it? We each get to keep one of our kids, and never have to see each other again. Who looses?'

'Um, the girls. They loose.'

'Find a better solution then.'

He didn't. Kurt didn't find a better solution. Splitting them was the only thing that made sense. So that was what they did. Blaine returned to Ohio, and got a job in business financing.

Kurt got the promotion he was after, it came with better hours (and some work he could do at home) and better pay. And started creating his label on the side, on the nights he was kept up, restless after dreaming, yet again, that Blaine was still at his side. Their lives went on, and neither of their daughters ever suspected a thing.

 


	10. Making Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're now up to date with what's on ff.net! So that's a celebration. The next update isn't too far away at all... just some minor editing and it'll be posted. Thanks to everyone who's reading.

'Wait, that's it?' Grace asked.

'What do you mean?' Kurt asked her.

'That's seriously why you split us up? You were both too butthurt to see each other every now and then?'

'Butthurt?' Blaine asked with a hint of a grin.

'I thought at least that maybe one of you got a job elsewhere and it was the only option... but it was literally because you were both acting like children.'

'Yeah, it's kind of lame.' Lydia added.

'It was.' Blaine said. 'It was childish, of both of us, not even consider how you both might feel one day in the future.'

Kurt nodded along with him.

'Were you ever going to tell us?' Lydia asked, her voice was quiet, and slightly shaky.

'I never knew how to tell you.' Blaine told her softly. 'I imagined the conversation over, and over, for years and... I could never work out how.'

'Well, 'hey Lyds, you've got an identical twin.' Would have be a good place to start.'

'Look, I understand that both of you are upset-' Kurt started.

'Upset? Dad, we are well beyond upset. Because right now, it looks like both of you were planning on letting us go our entire lives never knowing the other existed. Do you have any idea how it feels?'

Kurt mumbled something under his breath.

'What was that?' Grace asked.

'I said, probably similar to living the rest of your life never seeing the man you love again.'

Kurt carefully avoided Blaine's gaze after the words spilled from his mouth. He regretted them instantly, because if there was one thing he'd spent fourteen years in denial of, it was the fact he was still madly in love with Blaine, and probably always would be. He'd never truly let go of the sting of seeing the divorce papers hit the table in front of him, already signed by Blaine, signing them himself with shaky hands, taking off his wedding ring for the first time in two years. He'd always put on a brave face, pretended he was ok, and let life move on.

'But at least you knew he existed.' Lydia said quietly. 'Apologise all you want, but there's nothing that can make up for 14 years lost, because neither of us knew.'

'No. You're absolutely right.' Kurt said. 'But we can make everything from here on out count.'

Blaine nodded. 'We will.'

'You know... the upside of this is that for the rest of our lives we always have this to fall back on.' Lydia said smirking. 'We are virtually invincible from punishment because 'hey, remember that time you separated me from my twin sister for fourteen years?' I don't think there are many things we can do that are worse than that.'

'We'll see about that Lydia.' Blaine told her. 'I don't think any of this makes you exempt from being grounded.'

'What's going to happen now?' Grace asked softly. 'I mean... things can't just go back to how they were, that... well, that would quite frankly suck.'

'We'll figure it out.' Kurt said. 'I'm sure we can come to an arrangement.'

'Like we both move in here and be one big, extremely dysfunctional family?' Grace asked.

'While that sounds like the premise for a terrible sitcom, no. I somehow don't think Blaine and his fiancé would appreciate that too much. Let's think a bit more practically.'

Grace turned to Lydia and shrugged. 'Was worth a try.'

'One day though.'

'Most of the time the girls are at school. So it's really just the weekend's home and holidays.' Blaine said. 'I'm sure that won't be too hard to arrange. Some weekends they can come here, others they can go to yours. And holidays...'

'Christmas and new years is coming up.' Kurt said.

'Half the day each?' Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. 'I have to stay in New York over Christmas. It was Thanksgiving or Christmas my spring line isn't exactly going to design itself, and Grace loves the city at Christmas time, so...'

'You have your own label?' Blaine asked.

Kurt blushed ever so slightly, and nodded. 'Yes.'

'How have you not heard of Hummel Designs?' Lydia asked. 'I've only asked for several different pieces over the year.'

'Right.' Blaine said. 'Well, congratulations. So, um, Christmas...'

'It's a no-brainer dad.' Lydia said. 'We both go to New York for Christmas, and come back for new years.'

'I have to spend Christmas without you?'

'You come to New York too then.'

'How about, we sort out the details later?' Kurt suggested. 'Who knows, maybe between here and Christmas I can get some enough time off to make a trip back here worthwhile. We'll just have to wait and see. I do think, however, that it's time for Grace and I to get going. We've interrupted enough of your day... and I'm sure we can get to Westerville in time to still catch a few good Black Friday deals.'

Blaine cracked a smile. 'Remember your first Black Friday experience in New York?'

Kurt grinned back. 'Serves Macy's right for putting new kids on staff during Black Friday. It's not my fault she cried.'

'You were making sales assistants cry even back then?' Grace asked.

'You can makes sales assistants cry?' Lydia asked. 'I definitely have to go shopping with you.'

'He has a natural gift for it.' Blaine said.

'I'm demanding stories from you next time.' Grace said. 'I know he won't share them.'

'Ok, leaving, now.' Kurt stood up quickly.

'Afraid of what other deep dark secrets in your past might be revealed?' Grace asked.

'Yes. Exactly.'

Grace rolled her eyes, but stood up with her father anyway. 'Fine... I'll get those stories eventually though. You can't stop it.'

'But I can prolong it.' Kurt said.

'I'll see you two out.' Blaine said, standing up as well.

All four of them walked to the front door, where there was suddenly a pause and an awkward silence. Grace made eye contact with Lydia.

'I'll see you back at school.' Lydia said.

'Ugh, school. Why remind me?' Grace groaned.

'Thanks for not freaking out.' Kurt said softly, looking at Blaine, while the girls were momentarily distracted. 'And... thanks for taking such good care of her. You've raised a well-rounded girl.'

Blaine nodded. 'You too.'

'We'll work this out?'

'We'll work this out.'

'Good. That's... good.' Kurt nodded. 'Grace, come on, we have to leave.'

'Fine. See ya Lyd.' Grace turned slightly to look at Blaine, suddenly unsure of how she was supposed to address him, or where the boundaries were. 'And um... bye.'

'Bye Grace.' Blaine said, and suddenly stepped forwards and embraced her in a hug. It was slightly awkward and a little uncomfortable... and yet, so familiar because this man was... well, he was her father, really, and he was supposed to have been part of her family.

When they broke apart, Grace pretended to ignore the tears she saw in Blaine's eyes, and instead gave him and Lydia a final wave before getting into the car with her dad.

**x x x**

Kurt had never felt more emotionally drained than he did walking back into his Dad's house later that afternoon. He'd expected it to be hard, seeing Blaine again after all this time... but nowhere near as hard as it was. Last time he'd seen Blaine, he held a lot of anger towards him. Now the anger was gone, and he just constantly missed Blaine... the point where he'd been a little jealous of the way Blaine had wrapped his arms tightly around Grace, he  _ached_  to feel those arms around just one more time. It as ridiculous though... to be jealous of his daughter, for hugging a man who was, technically her father (his name was still on the birth certificate after all).

'I made you both hot chocolate.' Burt said as they walked in the door, shrugging off their coats. 'And Carole baked a cheesecake.'

'Comfort food.' Kurt sighed. 'Thank you.' He headed straight towards the kitchen.

Burt kept Grace back a moment 'Grace?'

'Yes, Lydia is back at her house, with her dad.'

Burt nodded. 'How did it go?'

She shrugged. 'I supposed it could have been worse. There could have been yelling.'

Burt's eyebrows rose. 'There was no yelling?'

'Nope.' Grace shook her head. 'Just a lot of... looking when the other wasn't.' She lowered her voice to a whisper Burt had to strain to hear. 'Between you and me, they're still completely in love.'

Burt nodded. 'Honestly? I'm not at all surprised. They always seemed like kind of a forever deal. Until... well...'

'There's still time for forever.' Grace said. 'Now, I heard the words hot chocolate, and cheesecake uttered.'

They walked to the kitchen, where Kurt was sitting at the table, already with a generous portion of cheesecake on a plate in front of him, and a hint of hot chocolate on his upper lip. 'I'm fine Dad, you don't need to go asking my daughter. I'm happy to talk about everything that happened.'

'How did B- he take the news?'

Kurt shrugged. 'Seemed a little shocked, but, mostly was pretty calm.'

'And how are  _you_?' Burt asked.

'I'm ok.'

'Kurt...'

'No really. I am. I'm still processing it all but, I'm ok. I don't think this will end in disaster and that's good.'

'Well, ok... that's good then.' Burt said, still sounding a little dubious. But he didn't argue his case. If Kurt felt like he was fine, then he was going to trust him.

'So, if it's ok with you Pop, I'm going to take this up to my room so I can eat while working on the homework I have to do.'

Burt nodded, and Grace took it as her cue to leave. Once she was out of the room Kurt sighed.

'How're you really feeling?' Burt asked once Grace had left the room.

Kurt sighed. 'Heavy. Drained. Exhausted. I don't know.'

'And how was...' Bury trailed off, suddenly not sure if he was supposed to mention the Blaine factor of it all.

'Good. He's... He looks like he's doing well.'

'I'm glad to hear that. He was a good kid. And how are the girls?'

'I really don't know. Adjusting, I guess. Mad at us.'

'Reasonably so.'

'Dad... please, don't.'

'Don't what?'

'I don't need you adding to my guilt. Just one look at either of the girls is enough, god even just thinking about it is enough. I already know everything was handled badly. I wish I could take it back. I've spent 14 years wishing I could take it back.'

'Look, kid...'

'Thirty-seven years old and still being called kid.'

'Because you'll always be my kid. Kurt, you have to realise that you can't take it back. And right now you have two hurt teenage girls that you have to deal with and that needs to be your priority.'

'Dad... seeing them together...' He said.

'I know.' And Burt was being honest. He did know. Last night, seeing his two granddaughters, together, for the first time since they were only a few months old... he would deny it to everyone, but he'd felt a little teary over it.

'I just hope that one day they can forgive us.'

'I think they will.'

**x x x**

As soon as Kurt and Grace had left the house immediately felt empty. Like something was missing. They had been in the house for all of two hours... how had they left that much on an impact? Hummel's truly were something that, Blaine knew for certain. He and Lydia had watched the car drive out of the driveway, Blaine's feeling completely and utterly drained. Left with only a few words Kurt had uttered running through his mind over and over again. He already couldn't remember much else of what had been said in their conversation... had Kurt actually admitted to still being in love with him?

Beside him, Lydia sighed heavily and turned back into the house, ready to go upstairs and retreat to her room.

'Lydia.' Blaine said, using the most authoritative voice he had. 'Stop. Before you go to your room we need to have a chat.'

'What's there to chat about?' Lydia asked. 'You and Kurt both totally suck, but at least Grace and I can be proper sisters now.'

'Come and sit down in the living the room.'

'Fine.'

Blaine practically heard the roll of her eyes. She followed him to the living room and sat herself down on the couch in a heavy huff and folded her arms across her chest and waiting.

'Firstly, you cannot just take off, at night time no less, just because you're upset. If you're upset, we talk. I don't care that you went to the Hummel's, you still... how did you even get there? They live in Lima.'

'Took a bus.' She shrugged.

'On Thanksgiving?'

'Yep.'

'Ok, well, that aside. I don't care that that's where you went. Though I am grateful that at least Burt and Carole, is it still Burt and Carole?'

'Yes. It's still Burt and Carole.'

'Right. Good, that's... that's good. I'm grateful that they are kind, hospitable people-'

'That I'm related to.'

'Technically Carole is your step-grandmother. That's not the point.' Blaine shook his head. 'It's not about who you went to. It's the fact that you went at all. I was worried sick Lydia! I didn't know where you were, or who you were with. Anything could have happened to you.'

'I called you. I told you I was fine.'

'I still didn't know where you were. And it was terrifying. You are to never do that again. Lock yourself in your room, that's fine. But you need to talk to me when you're upset. You can't just run off like you did.'

'Will you listen to me if I talk?' She asked. Her voice was quiet and soft, as she looked at him, almost worried.

'Lydia, yes. Of course I'll listen.'

'But I mean, actually listen... not just hear the words that I say, but try and understand where I'm coming from.'

'Yes.'

'Ok.' She took a deep breath. 'I don't like Mason. And I don't like that you want to marry him. I know, I know you think he'll make you happy. But... I don't think he will.'

'And... what makes you think that?'

'He's after your money. He all but told me so.'

'When was this?'

'Last night! Just before you announced your stupid engagement. How long have you even been seeing him for? Do you actually know him? He's going to rob you blind Dad. I don't like him.'

'Lydia, look, I know you and Grace have probably got some scenario all planned out where Kurt and I end up back together and we're one big happy family, but that's not going happen.'

'You're still not listening to me. This isn't about Kurt, or Grace. This is about Mason being an asshole. This is about you, not even thinking about the fact that by marrying him you're not just bringing him into your life, but my life as well. And he told me, he actually told me he wants your wallet. Why would I make something like that up? I want you to be happy, and he's not... he's not it Dad.'

'Lydia, you probably miss heard him. And look, I get what you're saying, and you're right. You don't know him, and that's not fair on you. I didn't think any of it through. I'll give you time, then, to get to know Mase, because I'm so sure you'll change your mind about him. And he'll understand, not having the wedding right away. In fact, how about over Christmas break, you, me, Grace and Mason, we'll all go on a trip. I can get to know Grace, and you both can get to know Mason. How does that sound?'

Lydia shrugged. 'Yeah, fine, whatever. I didn't mishear anything. But ok. We'll do that. What if I still don't like him?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Are we cool then?'

'Yeah.' She nodded. 'We're cool.'

'Good. because you're grounded from now until eternity.'

'What? Because I don't like your boyfriend?'

'Because you ran off.'

'Um, you seperated me from my twin sister.'

'Still grounded.'

'You suck.'


	11. NYC Part 1

Lydia walked back into their room with a satisfied smirk on her face. Grace rolled her eyes.

'Were you with Eli again?'

'Yep, sure was.'

'He's a bad influence on you, you know?'

'Please, we're young, he's hot… it's not like it's doing any damage.'

'Another detention for uniform infractions, like wearing your skirt too short, and your shirts too tight and it will start to do damage.'

'How? They'll tell my Dad? How utterly terrifying.' Lydia flung herself onto her bed. 'I think you're the one who needs to loosen up. It's already December so… we don't really have time, but, when we come back… we'll have a late new years party and you can see just how fun being a little bad can be.'

'Sure I will.' Grace didn't bother to hide her eye-roll.

'But that's for a different day. Right now, we have one week until Christmas break and this plan needs to go flawlessly.'

Grace grinned at the change of topic, this is was something she was excited about. 'All four of us together. It's kind of lame that Blaine decided that because he didn't want to go to New York, you couldn't either.'

'Yep, I agree. So, I've organised for Casey Stanley to fix our hair tomorrow night. She's pro, so don't worry, it'll look exactly the same, and we're going to have to use make-up, because there are some subtle differences that they might be able to notice, so with make-up, we should look exactly the same. And on Saturday Eli's going to drive us to the mall so we can get a couple of outfits that are exactly the same too. We can't leave any room for error.'

'Great. I also think we should both call both of them dad. It'll add to their confusion, and we can't slip up on it. Call Dad, Kurt once and it'll all be over. Your ass will be hauled back to Sandusky and that'll be that. We also need to remember our terms and conditions. All four of us, in New York for Christmas, and we'll only reveal who is who on Christmas Eve. Because by then it'll be too late to turn around and go back to Ohio.'

'And we both need to be responding to each name. All the time. We cannot have them call us out on that, because my dad will try.'

'So will mine. It'll be the first thing he does.'

'Just one step ahead… it's all we need to be. You've gotten in contact with your friend about Bryant Park right?'

'Yes. Shannon's dad was all for closing the rink for an hour on the 23rd just for them, it's booked in for about nine pm. We may have amped up the story a little bit to him. But it's happening. We're going to get to watch them fall in love all over again.' Grace squealed.

'You mean, watch them realise they never fell out of love?'

'That too.'

'I'm with you though. It's exciting.'

'It'll be perfect.'

**x x x**

Christmas break came around quickly, and Lydia and Grace had formulated their plan. They now looked the part of identical twins, and got plenty of practice of responding to the others name as their friends, and teachers a like kept mixing them up. By now, everyone in the school knew of the story of the twins, separated at birth, it was becoming a bit of a legend already. Some had even taken to calling them 'Lace' to avoid the confusion.

They both told their father's to pick them up from school at 9am. Grace and Kurt had a 2pm flight out to New York, Kurt was going to want to say goodbye to Burt and Carole first, and Lydia was sure it was enough time for her and Blaine to get a flight out at a similar time of day.

They stood in the school's parking lot, identical sets of bags between them, both wearing dark jeans, and a plain white shirt with their hair down, arms folded across their chest as they waited.

Kurt pulled up first. He parked the car and got out, sweeping his sunglasses up to rest on top of his head he stared at the two girls and sighed. He walked up to them and shook his head.

'No. Not happening girls.'

'Hi Dad.' They both said, with identical grins.

'We're waiting for Dad to get here and then we're going to have a talk.' Grace said.

Kurt eyed them suspiciously. 'Is that so?'

'Yes.' They both nodded.

'Grace,'

'Yes?' They said at the same time.

Kurt sighed. 'Never mind.'

They didn't have to wait long. Blaine arrived just five minutes later. Like Kurt, he took one look at the girls and sighed heavily.

'Do I want to know?' He asked.

'Great, you're here.' Lydia said.

'We want to talk to both of you.'

'Ok, what do you want to say?'

'We want to spend Christmas together.' Grace said.

'The  _four_  of us, together.' Lydia added.

'In New York.'

'Girls…' Kurt said. 'That's not…'

'Oh, but it is.' Grace said. 'The alternative is you can both take a gamble, pick which daughter you think is yours, and potentially spend this family holiday with the wrong one.'

'And how are you planning all of us getting to New York?' Blaine asked. 'I highly doubt that there'll be any tickets on flights left.'

'But there is.' Lydia produced a piece of paper. 'A list of flights this afternoon and tomorrow morning that are still available.

'And what about Mason?'

'What about him?' Grace asked.

'He had planned to spend Christmas with us instead of his family this year.'

Grace shrugged. 'It's up to him.'

'Yeah, if he wants to come to New York for Christmas, then let him.'

Blaine sighed. 'Girls, you can't just do this.'

'Fourteen lost Christmases.' Lydia reminded him.

'Ok, you're Lydia.' Blaine pointed to her.

'Can you be certain though, Dad?' Grace asked, with a perfected Lydia smirk.

Blaine opened his mouth to respond, then quickly shut it again with a frown.

'We all go to New York. Or the two of us will turn right back around and stay here for the holidays.'

'Why can't we stay here for Christmas then?' Blaine asked.

'Because Dad K can't get the time off.' Lydia said.

'Dad K?' Kurt asked amused.

'It was too difficult to call you both Dad, and Pop is for Pop, and Daddy is for little kids. So Dad K and Dad B it is.' Grace explained.

'Right.' He turned to Blaine. 'What do you want to do?'

'This wasn't in any parenting book.'

'Pretty sure  _'split up your twin daughter's'_  wasn't in them either.' Grace said.

Blaine narrowed his eyes at her. 'Lydia?'

'Yes?' They both said in perfect unison.

He sighed.

'We, ah, we've done Christmas in New York as friends before.' Kurt pointed out.

'It was supposed to be mine and Mason's first Christmas together.'

'Bring him along. My apartment is big enough for the six of us.'

'Six?' Blaine asked.

'Oh, Rachel will definitely invite herself along when she hears about this.'

'Right. Rachel.' Blaine said. 'Ok… Ok, one of you girls has to come with me while I go home and pack ad book flights, the other can go with Kurt.'

'Are you sure?' Kurt asked.

Blaine looked at him and nodded. 'I think we kind of owe them this one.'

Grace and Lydia grinned at each other and high fived.

'Ok, who's coming with me and who's going with Blaine?' Kurt asked.

'You have to pick.' Lydia told him. 'It's part of the whole… You not knowing who we are.'

'Ok… You come with me, and uh, you…' He pointed to Grace. 'Go with Blaine.'

The girls shrugged and picked up their bags.

'I'll see you in New York then?' Kurt asked Blaine.

'Yeah.' He nodded. 'Oh, wait, can I um…' He fished around in his pocket for a moment before producing his phone. 'I'll need your phone number. And your address for when we get there.'

'Right.' Kurt went a little pink as he typed his number and address into the phone before handing it back to Blaine.

'I'll let you know what flight we're on.' Blaine smiled.

'Right, yeah… I guess I'll um, I'll see you in New York then.'

Lydia and Grace hugged each other goodbye; Lydia gave Blaine a quick hug too before walking back to Kurt's car with him. They were first going to go to Lima so Burt and Carole could give them presents, and then head to the airport. As they climbed into the car Kurt turned to Lydia.

'Any chance of you telling me which one you are?' He asked.

'Nope. Not a chance.'

**x x** **x**

'But babe, it's supposed to be our first Christmas together.'

Grace cringed at the term of endearment coming from Mason's mouth as she sat awkwardly in the living room. Blaine and Mason were in the kitchen arguing over the fact that Blaine had decided to go to New York. She felt uncomfortable, and like she was intruding, but there she was anyway.

'I know. And it will be. In New York, it'll be romantic.'

'Yeah, staying in your ex-husbands apartment with your twin daughters in tow will be super romantic.'

'Mase… come on. This thing is kind of a little bit bigger than the two of us. The girls they… they deserve this. After everything we did. It's the least I can do, letting them have a Christmas together for the first time.'

'But why do we have to go. Can't you just send Lydia on her way and stay here?'

'Lydia is my daughter, my family. I'm spending Christmas wherever she is. That's final.'

There was silence for a moment and Grace strained to hear what was going on. She then heard the distinct smacking of lips together and a heavy sigh.

'Fine. But one, I'll fly in Christmas Eve and fly out Boxing Day. Two, I get a least a few hours alone with you, at some point. Three, I'm not staying at your ex's apartment, it's weird and creepy, and I don't want you staying there either. It's not you I don't trust, it's him.'

'You don't know him.'

'I know, but… come on… he comes back into your life, right when you get engaged… that's suspicious isn't it?'

Blaine laughed. 'Hardly. We both sent our daughters to a school we thought would be good for them, because we both had a great experience there. Come to New York, meet him, and you'll see, there's nothing between us anymore. We're doing this for the sake of our girls.'

Grace rolled her eyes. Nothing between Blaine and her dad? Yeah… right… Even though it wasn't necessarily something she wanted to dwell for too long for, there was tension between them. Tangible, evident, tension, and Blaine was kidding himself by saying that there wasn't. It was kind of gross to think of her Dad doing… well, anything, with anyone… but what was there between him and Blaine was there. No matter what Blaine said.

'Fine. Ok.'

'Good. I'll see you in New York then? We have to get going if we're going to get to the plane on time.

'Ok. I'll see you soon.'

'Love you.'

'Love you too.'

**x x x**

Lydia had never been to New York City before… and as they were in the taxi driving through the city she was realising the slight flaw in their plan. New York was a dream. New York amazing. New York was… New York. And everything she'd ever dreamt of it being. However, she had to refrain from sticking her head out the window and staring in wonder at it all because that would be a dead giveaway that she was Lydia. So she had to keep it cool, and act like it was normal, like she'd been here her whole life.

Burt had known. She had no idea how he was able to tell them apart, but just before they left the house in Lima he'd pulled her aside, and said Merry Christmas, and to pass his wishes onto to Grace. When she'd stared at him in shock, he'd just winked.

No further explanation.

One thing she hadn't realised was that when Grace had talked about growing up in New York City, she'd meant… New York City. They were now in Manhattan, and buildings definitely weren't getting any smaller in size. She let herself fantasise about the life she could have had. Growing up with Kurt, and her Dad, with Grace… in this big city. Being able to walk to Times Square, and getting frustrated at tourists stopping every three seconds to take photos, thinking nothing of the beauty of Central Park, because it was just a normal part of her life…

She wanted it so badly.

The cab pulled up on the street, and Kurt handed over the fair with a thanks. Lydia climbed out of the car and helped him get the suitcases out of the back of the car. The lobby of the building wasn't anything too fancy, but it was more than Lydia had expected. She kept her face steadily neutral.

'Glad to be home?' Kurt asked.

'So glad.' She sighed.

They got off the elevator at the top floor. There was a short, narrow corridor with only two doors, opposite each other. Kurt went to the one to the left and pulled a key out of his pocket to unlock it. Lydia had known from day one that Grace was a fancy girl from the city… and she had most definitely heard of Hummel Designs, and had guessed from that, that Kurt was rather well off.

But the Hummel's were, in a word,  _loaded_.

She was standing in what looked like the luxury suite of a grand, expensive hotel. Except it was an apartment. This was the place her sister and her biological father called home. It was huge. In front of her was a front row seat view of Central Park, with the city skyline off in the distance, but for a moment, you could ignore the buildings and forget you were even in New York, it was stunning. The windows of the apartment went right along the wall, from the floor to the ceiling. Lydia couldn't have dreamed up a better view for a New York City apartment if she'd tried.

Kurt chuckled. 'I'm sure you remember where your room is… I'll leave you to settle in. Blaine and… the other one of you should be here in about two hours. I have a few work things to catch up on now I'm here.'

Lydia nodded. She thankfully did know where 'her' room was. Grace had drawn her a detailed map in case this happened.

Grace's room was a decent size. Not quite a big as hers at home (to be fair though… she lived in a big house on acreage… Grace lived in a penthouse apartment in NYC), but it spaciously fit a large bed, huge wardrobe and a desk, in front of a window that also looked out at the city. Lydia dumped her bags and lay down on bed, sighing. It only took her a few minutes to realise that she only had a couple of hours alone in Grace's room to scope the place out, and snoop around. So she sat up, and her eyes fell on the wardrobe.

'She's been holding out on me.' Lydia whispered as she opened the door to the walk-in, it was small for a walk-in, but still bigger than any wardrobe Lydia had ever had, and was packed full of clothes. There were high end, expensive things, as well as a tonne of stuff for Forever 21, H&M and Target. 'I have died and gone to heaven.' She muttered. She took note of everything she wanted to take home with her (she'd talk Grace into letting her), and for fun, slipped on a Ralph Lauren sweater.

She poked around a little more through Grace's things. Unfortunately, Grace was good at leaving a place spotless. There wasn't even an old embarrassing diary left by her 12 year old self and Lydia to read and laugh at. Bored, Lydia made her way through the apartment and to Kurt's workroom, shyly standing at the door watching him sew. It was a navy dress he was putting together, and just stood and watched him for a moment, wondering how on earth she was actually related to him.

He finished off the seam and looked up at her.

'Want to model this for me?' Kurt asked holding the dress up. 'I know it'll be long on you but-'

'Yes!' she burst out instantly.

'Ok, but be careful, not everything is stitched down properly.'

Lydia walked into the small bathroom (that was really just a toilet and a sink) adjoining the room and put the dress on carefully. It was obviously unfinished, and like Kurt had said, long on her, but she loved it anyway. She held the dress up so the bottom of it didn't drag on the ground and walked out, grinning.

'What do you think?' She asked.

Kurt analysed the dress. 'I think, I need to take it in a little around the bust and re-evaluate where I'm putting the all sequins.' he sighed. 'It's going to be cliché city if I stick with where I'm going now.'

'Um, ok...' Lydia said, suddenly remembering that Kurt didn't actually know whether she was herself, or Grace.

He put a few pins into the dress and stepped back. 'Ok, that'll look better.' He tilted his head to the side. 'Navy looks really good on you. I don't know why I never realised.'

Lydia grinned. 'It's the Dalton blazer, my skin has probably adapted.'

Kurt laughed. 'That actually doesn't sound anywhere near as ridiculous as it should. Ok... you can take it off now.'

Lydia nodded and returned to the bathroom, being careful of the pins as she took the dress off. As she returned it to Kurt who started to put it on the mannequin she took a deep breath and spoke.

'Are you ready for Dad B to be here?' She asked.

'Not in the slightest. But then I remember that it does mean spending Christmas with both of my daughters for the first time and I realise that I can do it.' He glanced at her with a smile.

'Do you still love him?'

'Still... n-no. No I... I mean, of course, feelings because, you know? But time... so, I don't, I... can't.'

Lydia stared at him completely baffled. Kurt glanced over to her.

'What?' he asked.

She shook her head. 'Nothing, nothing at all.' She omitted the part where he hadn't actually spoken a full sentence. 'Is there anything I can do help? Set up the guest room maybe?'

'The guest room! I haven't set up the guest room. They're due to be here anytime now, and I need to put clean sheets on the bed, make sure the bathroom is clean and... There's so much to be done.'

'Relax, Dad K. I'll go and do all of that. You work on the dress.'

'Right. The dress. I'll do that then. Good.'

'Good.'

Lydia set herself to work, changing the bedding on the guest bed, trying not to think about the fact that in a few nights her dad and Mason would be sharing it... they probably shared a bed all the time, but she was at Dalton, so didn't know about, and she liked it that way. There was a part of her objective enough to see that her dad was a relatively attractive man, but it wasn't a thought she liked to dwell on.

As she was halfway through her task, the doorbell rang. And she paused, listening carefully to see if it was Blaine and Grace.

'Kurt! Hi!' A distinctly female voice said loudly.

'Rachel,' Kurt hissed. 'Blaine is due here any minute, and I don't want you here then.'

'But  _Kurrrtt_. I haven't seen Blaine in years.'

'Exactly.'

'Can I at least say hello to my favourite niece?'

Kurt sighed. 'She's setting up the guest room, go ahead if you must.'

Lydia quickly resumed putting the pillow cases on the pillow when there was a knock at the door.

'Come in.' Lydia said, a short, brunette woman, grinning from ear to ear stepped into the room. Lydia racked her brain, wondering why it felt like she should know who this Rachel was. 'Uh… hi.'

'Grace! Come here and give your Aunt Rachel a hug. I missed you so much sweetie.'

Lydia stood hesitantly.  _Aunt_  Rachel… Grace had definitely spoken about an Aunt Rachel, but in that moment, Lydia couldn't think of one thing Grace had said about her.

'Um… yeah, I missed you too.' Lydia let the strange woman fling her arms around her tightly for a brief second.

'Gracey, what's… oh my god!' She exclaimed 'You're not-'

In a panic, Lydia covered Rachel's mouth with her hand. 'Sshh, Kurt doesn't know.'

'Where's Grace?'

'Coming with Blaine… the only way we could get them to agree to this was by not telling them who was who. Kurt doesn't know which one of us is here at the moment.'

'I love movies in real life! This is just like The Parent Trap!'

Lydia rolled her eyes. 'Yes, exactly like it.'

'Well, Lydia, it is lovely to meet you. I'm Rachel, your dad's, Kurt's, I mean, best friend, and I baby-sat you a few times when you were just a tiny little baby.'

'I'm sorry if I ever threw up on you.'

Rachel laughed, 'Apology accepted.'

Lydia nodded and bit her lip, not really too sure what else to say. Rachel, however, seemed to have enough grace to recognise the silence.

'I should get going. As much as I'd love to stay to see Blaine, I'll be back again tomorrow, to see the real Grace and see Blaine again. It was lovely meeting you. I can't wait to get to know you.'

'It was nice meeting you too.' Lydia said.

'Before I go, just between us girls... how do things look for Klaine?'

'Klaine?'

'Kurt and Blaine.'

'Oh... we're working on it.' She said.

Rachel grinned. 'Good girls. They belong together.'

'That seems to be the general consensus.'

**x x x**

The taxi stopped outside of an apartment building, they were unmistakably in Manhattan, and Blaine couldn't figure out if he was pleasantly surprised by this, or if it was expected... he couldn't figure out much of what he was feeling, because it was either that he was experiencing such a mix of heightened emotion, or that he had just gone completely numb.

He was in New York again.

He'd managed to avoid New York for fourteen years, and now... here he was again. About to spend Christmas with Kurt.

Their last Christmas together had been... tense. There was so much unknown about how much their lives would change when their twin girls were born, Kurt had started working longer hours, and Blaine could feel loneliness creeping in. Back then it had felt like the twins were going to fix everything. That they'd come into their lives and everything would just be better... Only it didn't. It got worse, and Blaine had walked away from the shining city lights.

'Come on Dad B, you gotta pay the man.'

Blaine turned his head to his daughter, one of them, which he still hadn't worked out. Some moments she was just so... Lydia, and then she give him a bright smile he hadn't seen on his daughter before and wonder if maybe it was actually Grace.

'Right, sorry.' he smiled at the taxi driver and handed over the exuberant fee before climbing out of the car, where his daughter had already gotten their bags out.

'You ready?' She asked.

'As I'll ever be.'

He wasn't ready at all. But he had to be.

He shouldn't have been surprised to find that the floor number in Kurt's message was actually the top floor of the building.

He shouldn't have been surprised that when Kurt answered the door he had that fresh, red, flustered look he got when he'd just finished working hard.

He shouldn't have been surprised that Kurt's apartment was sleek, modern, but still homely.

He shouldn't have been surprised that the apartment smelt like Kurt.

The only thing that didn't surprise him was the one thing that should have.

Walking to the apartment felt a little bit like coming home.


	12. NYC Part 2: The Way We Should Have Been

The minute Blaine stepped foot into the apartment, Kurt felt like a stranger in his own home. He suddenly felt like he didn't know where he was allowed to go, or what he was allowed to touch. The whole thing was too surreal for him. He barely heard Blaine praising the place as he gave him a quick tour, while the girls immediately went to Grace's room chattering and giggling away.

He showed Blaine the spare room, and left him alone for a moment, heading to the bathroom for a second of solitude. He just had to keep his head focused over the next few days. This was for the girls there was nothing more to it. He couldn't let his mind run away with fantasies of what could be, because it wasn't going to happen. Blaine was engaged. He'd well and truly moved on, and it wasn't his fault that Kurt never had quite.

He came out of his room to find Grace, Lydia and Blaine all sitting in the living room talking. He had to take a deep steadying breath before approaching them.

'So... since you're all only here for a short time I thought we would go out for dinner. And because we have our special guests, I thought I'd take you to Grace's and my favourite restaurant in the entire city. And believe me, we've eaten at enough different places to be able to make such a statement.'

The girl's high fived each other and Blaine smiled at him.

'What's the dress code?'

'Smart casual. We'll leave in about forty minutes.'

The restaurant was only a short walk away. Lydia and Grace took off ahead of Kurt and Blaine talking and giggling to each other.

'I wonder if they really are like that 24-7 or if it's because their plan worked.' Kurt wondered out loud.

'Twenty-four seven. If my inside sources are correct.' Blaine said.

'Inside sources?'

'Wes is a music teacher at Dalton.'

'Is he now?' Kurt asked. 'Interesting.'

'He only sees them a handful of times during the week. I'll admit though, I was angry when I found out he knew about them from their first day of the term and didn't think to tell me that Grace was, in fact, at Dalton.'

'Must be a little bit the way I felt when I found Dad had known from that weekend they switched.'

'He did?' Blaine asked surprised.

Kurt nodded. 'He overhead Lydia talking on the phone and worked it out. Didn't think to inform me until Thanksgiving when Lydia was standing at the front door.'

'Kurt, about then, I...'

'And here we have A Voce, the best Italian restaurant you'll ever go to. You have to try their ravioli; it is honestly to die for.' Kurt said, he pushed the door open and walked in ahead of Blaine.

'Pasta worth sacrificing your life for… must be good.'

Kurt turned to him with a smirk. 'Oh it is.'

Blaine was grateful the restaurants dim lighting hid the sudden flush that heated up his face.

'Oh good evening Mr Hummel, how are you tonight?' The host greeted him with a smile.

'I'm fantastic Julian. I don't suppose you have a table for four do you?'

'Four? Who's with you tonight?'

At that moment Grace and Lydia came and stood next to Kurt with identical smiles on their faces. Julian blinked at the several times, his eyes wide with surprise.

'There's two of her.' He said.

'Yes.' Kurt nodded. 'These are my two daughters, Grace and Lydia, we're here with their other father.'

He blinked again, trying to process the information, before putting a rehearsed smile back on his. 'Lovely. Table for four coming up then.'

'Thank you Julian.'

As they followed him through to the back of the restaurant Blaine snuck up behind him to whisper in his ear.

'You didn't tell me you were regulars.'

Kurt had to physically suppress the shiver that threatened to run down his spine as Blaine breath hit his ear. It was nothing. Blaine just didn't want to be overheard, plus the atmosphere was chattery, so he didn't want to have to yell over the top of the noise. They were seated at a table, Lydia and Grace quickly sat opposite each other, forcing Kurt and Blaine to do the same. Kurt had to take a deep breath. It wasn't just going to be a long night. It was going to be a long few days.

Dinner progressed and Blaine was feeling more and more relaxed about what the next few days were going to be like. He forgot that being around Kurt was easy. He'd been so caught up in all the emotions from fifteen years ago that had been long forgotten, so caught up in the hurt and anger he left behind in New York, that he forgot was it was like to be around Kurt. This version of Kurt. Kurt who wasn't trying to juggle a new marriage, new born babies and a demanding job. But Kurt who had bright eyes, a contagious smile and a wicked sense of humour. This Kurt was so easy to be around, so easy to laugh with and flirt to. There were so many moments during dinner where he had to check himself. He was engaged to Mason. He loved Mason. Kurt was… Kurt was his past, and he'd always have a deep affection for Kurt, because Kurt was the first boy he'd been in love Kurt. Kurt was his first real kiss, his first time, his first marriage, the father of his daughters… so of course Kurt would never be someone he felt nothing towards. But he couldn't get caught up in that. He couldn't be swept away by being in New York, with their daughters, without Mason. He couldn't let himself get re-addicted to the way he could make Kurt blush, or the way tingles shot through his body any time they accidentally brushed against each other, or touched. It was wrong.

'You were right.' Blaine said as the waiter took their demolished plated away. 'I would definitely sacrifice my life for that ravioli.'

'Told you it was good.' Kurt said.

'So,' one of the girls said, suddenly looking like she meant important business. 'We only have a few days, so we need to make them count. Dad B, when is Mason arriving?'

'Um, Christmas Eve.'

'Perfect.' The other twin said. 'Tomorrow we will be site seeing. One of us hasn't seen the city before. We'll do Times Square, Central Park and Top of the Rock, finished with ice skating at Bryant Park tomorrow night. Ok?'

Kurt glanced at Blaine to confirm Blaine was ok with this.

'Yeah, that sounds good girls.' He said.

'Excellent.' The first one to speak said. 'Then on Christmas Eve we're going to go shopping, be a part of the crazy… maybe Dad K can make some sales assistants cry.'

'We'll see.' Kurt said.

'Followed with a cosy evening at home watching Christmas Carols on TV and decorating the tree. I believe Aunt Rach is going to be joining that night and sleeping over so she can be with us all on Christmas morning.'

'That uh… that's quite a detailed plan.' Blaine said.

'Yes, well, if we'd had Christmas together every year we'd probably have a whole heap of family traditions to participate in. But that didn't happen, so we have no traditions.'

'Girls… are you…'

'What? Are we what?'

'Ever going to forgive us?'

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. 'Maybe one day.'

'But for now,' the other spoke up. 'We have a busy day tomorrow so we should get home.'

'Can we get frozen yoghurt on the way home?'

'Yes. I think we can manage that. Right, I'll go get the bill, I'll meet you outside.'

The girls stood up, and walked out of the restaurant. Blaine stayed behind and followed Kurt, fishing out his wallet. Their waiter was printing out their bill for them when Kurt spun around to face Blaine, who hadn't realised how close he'd been standing to Kurt. They were almost touching.

'What are you doing?' Kurt asked.

'I um…' Blaine swallowed, completely captivated all of a sudden by Kurt's eyes.

They seemed to have more green in them than he remembered. Were they greener? Or had he just forgotten what Kurt's eyes looked like? How could he forget something like that? 'I'm paying our share of the bill.'

'No you're not.' Kurt said. 'My city, I pay. Go away.'

'Um… ok.' He took a step back.

Kurt seemed to realise the way his tone had come across instantly, because he face softened. 'Blaine, I didn't mean… I just meant… go and wait outside with the girls. I'm more than happy to pay for this ok? Besides… I happen to know the owner, I get a discount.'

'At least let me tip.' Blaine insisted, pulling some notes from his wallet.

'Fine.' Kurt rolled his eyes almost playfully. 'You can pay the tip. I'll meet you outside.'

'You guys look happy together, I want that one day.' The waiter said once Blaine had walked away.

'Oh we're not…' Kurt started, immediately flustered. 'I… thanks.' He took his credit card back and slipped it into his wallet before walking outside and meeting the girls and Blaine, who smiled at him warmly. Kurt ignored the way his heart fluttered, for the thousandth time that night.

He needed to get a grip.

**x x x**

'Did you see them at dinner?' Grace asked, as soon as they were back at the apartment, they took off to Grace's room.

'I thought my Dad was going to lunge across the table and attack Kurt with his mouth.' Lydia said. 'Which you'd think I'd find really gross, but oddly, I was ok with it.'

'Seriously… they were eyeing each other up like nothing else the entire meal. My Dad is pale, so he gets red pretty easily, but I have never seen him blush that much, or that constantly, ever.'

'You know what I don't understand,' Lydia said, kicking off her heels and lying back on the bed, with her legs dangling over the edge. 'Is how love that so obviously destined to be can fall apart? I mean, I reckon everyone in that restaurant could see how much the belong together, and the way they're drawn to each other like magnets or something… but not even that could keep them together.'

Grace shrugged, joining her sister on the bed. 'I don't know. Other people make it work, like my grandparents for example. I think they were just young, and stupid. This time around they're older, they're more mature… there's still hope.'

'Except for the stupid engagement.'

'Hey, engagements can be broken off. It's just a speed hump.'

'I hope you're right.'

**x x x**

After Grace and Lydia basically made a beeline for Grace's room Kurt and Blaine were left alone, standing awkwardly in the living room, both unsure of how to navigate the situation.

'Um,' Kurt said. 'I actually have a bit of work left still to do, so… I was going to um,'

'Oh right, yeah, of course.' Blaine said.

'Cool, well… there's the TV, feel free to watch it, or get anything from the kitchen or… I don't really know. Make yourself at home, I guess.'

Blaine nodded.

Kurt stared at him a moment longer, before nodding back. 'Ok.'

He turned, and walked into his workroom. He didn't shut the door all the way close, but once he was in the sanctuary of his own company he let out a deep shuddering breath and ran his fingers through his hair. The next few days were going to be a nightmare. The whole time through dinner Blaine had looked perfect, with his hair out in curls and slight stubble along his jaw. And he'd kept looking at him. Looking at him the way he had back when they were teenagers. With that awe and wonder and innocence (and then occasionally he'd be eating and would look up suddenly at Kurt with his gaze so… heated) and Kurt hadn't been able to handle it. He wondered if Blaine knew he was doing it. Actually, he wondered if Blaine even actually was doing it, or if he'd made the whole thing up in his head.

He probably had.

Blaine was… wasn't… Blaine had moved on. He was engaged. He had a fiancé. Kurt needed to remind himself, he wasn't still in love with Blaine. He couldn't be. It was just a little crush. That was all.

There was a knock on the door.

'Yeah?' He asked. He was expected to see one, or both of the girls. Not Blaine. 'Oh… Blaine. Hi.'

'Hi.' Blaine said, ducking his head, almost shyly.

'Did you need help with something?' Kurt asked.

'No.' He shook his head.

'Ok…'

'I wanted to see your work.' He said.

'Oh.' Kurt's eyebrows shot up. 'You do?'

'Yeah. You're doing what you've always wanted to do, so… what are you working on right now?'

'Um… well, the collections are done at the studio. But I work on customs here. And uh… well, awards season is coming up, so I'm working on a custom dress for a client attending the Grammy's. I also will be doing one for the Oscars, but I'm still working with the client on specifics.' He walked over to the mannequin and turned it around for Blaine to see the dress.

'Wow.' Blaine stared at the dress. 'Kurt… it's stunning.'

'Thank you.' He said softly.

'No, really. Wow.' Blaine stepped forward to get a closer look at the detail work.

'You're… this is amazing.' He looked up at Kurt, their eyes locking. 'You're amazing.'

'It's nice to hear every now and then.'

He was so close. It wouldn't take much for Kurt to reach out and stroke his cheek, feel the graze of stubble under the pad of his thumb. It wouldn't take much at all.

Blaine wasn't his.

Kurt took a step back, and tore his eyes away, focusing on the fabric right in front of him.

'I have to focus.' He said. 'I'm not going to get much done over the next few days with you all here, so I need the time. I've got Netflix. Feel free to watch what you want.'

'Right. Of course. I might head off to bed anyway. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Yeah.' Kurt didn't look up until her heard the door click shut.

He let out a heavy sigh. This was too hard. Way, way too hard.

**x x x**

Kurt wasn't too sure what had made him wake up at first. And then he became conscious of the smell of pancakes cooking wafting into his room. His stomach rumbled in anticipation immediately.

Before he headed out to the kitchen, he vainly checked his reflection. He looked appropriately tousled… he knew that it was extremely inappropriate to use the fact that Blaine liked the way he looked most when he'd just woken up. But… he only had a little over 24 hours left with Blaine before his fiancé arrived and… he'd never actually do anything. Blaine was a taken man and that was a boundary he wouldn't ever cross. But, knowing, even for just a second, that Blaine still found him attractive would be enough.

He walked out and saw the girls standing over the stove and Blaine sitting on one of the stools at the bench, nursing a mug of coffee.

'Good morning.' He greeted, manoeuvring around the kitchen, getting his own coffee. 'That smells great girls.'

'Thank you. I'm teaching Lydia our secret recipe.'

Kurt turned his head so quickly he almost got whiplash. 'Lydia huh?'

'Yep.' Grace nodded. 'Gigs up. We decided the threat of Blaine forcing Lydia back to Ohio for Christmas now was over. And it's annoying for us when you both just call us 'hey you'. So… tada.'

'How come I'm made out to be the bad guy?' Blaine asked.

'Because every story needs a villain and you are an easy target. Who knows, maybe next month Kurt will be the bad guy.' Lydia said.

Kurt, took his coffee and went and sat on the stool next to Blaine nudging him playfully.

'Tough luck Anderson.' He said grinning.

Blaine rolled his eyes. 'I'll have you know, I'm not above buying their love.'

'And don't we plan on abusing it.' Lydia said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of Blaine and another for Kurt.

'I'm a little afraid as to what we've gotten ourselves into.' Kurt said quietly to Blaine as the girls resumed making pancakes now for themselves to eat.

'Well, whatever it is… can't say we didn't earn it.'

Kurt simply nodded.

'By the way,' Blaine leant over, invading Kurt's personal space ever so slightly. 'I forgot how good you look in a hoodie.'

Kurt felt himself flush hotly as Blaine leant back out of his personal space and resumed eating pancakes as though nothing had happened.

**x x x**

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things Blaine got to witness was the wide-eyed wonder his daughter displayed so openly on her face as they toured their way through New York City.

They started in Central Park, since it was literally outside the door of Kurt's apartment building. Lydia and Grace walked constantly ahead of them, Grace sharing stories of her childhood with Lydia, pointing out where she'd first fallen off her bike, where a boy she knew had pushed her over and she'd broken her wrist, where her favourite 'thinking spots' where. Blaine could see the awe on Lydia's face as she took in the park, but also the moments of far-off curiosity. He suspected she was thinking about what her life could have been, growing up in the city the way Grace had, with Grace by her side.

Blaine had tried. He tried to give Lydia the most fulfilling upbringing he could. He'd barely denied her anything… which in hindsight probably wasn't great parenting especially given the attitude Lydia had developed, but the guilt had always eaten away at him. Anytime Lydia had wanted something, she'd look up at him, with bright blue, pleading eyes and instantly he'd picture and identical girl next to her and a guilt Lydia didn't even know she could use against him won out every time and he caved. In some ways he'd hoped giving her everything she could possibly want would make up for the mistakes he and Kurt had made.

According to Lydia and Grace's plans the Rockefeller Centre was next. The line to get to the top was long and Blaine spent the time in line watching Kurt interact with the girls. Kurt had such an ease with them Blaine had yet to manage.

'Dad?' Lydia looked over at him, and reached out; pulling him into the little circle they'd created. 'Want to tell us about your first time coming here?'

Blaine shot Kurt a playful glare. 'You're mean.' He said.

Kurt gave him a cheeky smirk. 'Are you going to tell them the story? Or do you want me to?'

'No! I will. I'll tell them.' Blaine said hurriedly. He knew the version of the story that would get told if Kurt told them. 'It was my freshman year of college, I was a couple of weeks in and it occurred to us that I hadn't really seen the city properly. So, Kurt decided to take me out one day and do all the clichéd tourist things.'

_Kurt had insisted that the two of them go to the top of the Rock, rather than the Empire State Building, giving the reasons that lines for the Empire State Building were insane, and at the top of the Rock, you could see the Empire State Building and that was a more spectacular view._

_Blaine was buzzing with excitement as the elevator went up, and up, and up. They finally stepped out on to the roof of the building._

' _Wow.' He breathed as the view came into his line of sight._

_Beside him Kurt grinned, gripping his arm tight. 'Take it all in.' Kurt said._

' _I am.' Blaine said, moving closer to the glass panels surrounding the edge. He slowly walked around, taking everything in as slowly as he could, not wanting to miss a moment._

_It was probably around fifteen or twenty minutes later, when he realised Kurt was missing. He finally found him, just a couple of meters away. Blaine grinned, and slowly approached him from behind. He stealthily wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist._

' _Hey you,' He said, spinning Kurt around in his arms and leaning in for a kiss. 'Ahh! You're not who I thought you were.'_

_There was a strange man staring at him with a terrified look on his face. The man shook his head. 'No, I-I don't think I am.'_

' _Sorry.'_

' _You might want to let go of me now.'_

_Blaine glanced down to see the way his arms were wrapped around the strange man's waist. 'I am so sorry.'_

' _Yeah, so you said.' The man pulled himself away from Blaine, who let his arms flop ungraciously to his side, and walked away._

_Blaine stood there, not too sure what to do, beet red, hoping no one else had witness the exchange. He did a slow casual glance around, only to find Kurt standing just behind him, gripping his sides laughing._

' _Shut up.' Blaine said._

' _I am so glad I got to witness that. That was great.'_

'You groped a stranger?' Lydia asked.

'I didn't grope him!' Blaine exclaimed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. 'Your hands were so close to his butt that you might as well have been.'

'But I  _didn't_.'

'You groped a stranger.' Lydia sang, nudging her father a little.

'This is your fault.' Blaine playfully glared at Kurt.

'Ah, well, you'll just have to get me back later.'

'I'm already plotting it out in my head.'

**x x x**

'We have one more thing planned.' Lydia said as they walked out of the restaurant they'd chosen for dinner.

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a sceptical glance.

'And what is that?' Blaine asked.

'You'll see.' Grace said, leading the four of them down the road to Bryant Park.

When they got there, the ice rink was being shut down for the night. Kurt admittedly felt a little disappointed that it was closing early for the night and they wouldn't get to skate. For a little while it had been a tradition of theirs. Since that first Christmas, while they were broken up, for the first time, and Blaine had come to New York with his dad, they'd started to do it every year. And it'd be nice to participate in the tradition, just one last time, years after it was long over.

'Grace!' A teenage girl emerged through the crowd of people, embracing Grace in a hug.

'Shannon! I missed you so much!' Grace squealed.

The girl, Shannon, grinned. 'Is this Lydia?' She asked.

'It is. Lydia, this is Shannon, the one who was able to organise all of this.'

'Hey.' Lydia said.

'Organise what?' Blaine asked Kurt quietly.

Kurt shrugged.

'Hello Mr Hummel,' Shannon said before looking to Blaine. 'You must be Blaine then I assume. I'm Shannon.'

'Nice to meet you Shannon.'

'Back at you. Well, if the four of you would follow me please.'

Kurt and Blaine exchanged another confused look.

'What's going on Grace?' Kurt asked.

'We're going ice skating.' Grace said.

'But the rink's closed.'

'Yeah, closed for us.'

'What?'

Before he could get an answer they were lead to the skate hire, where Shannon took a place behind the desk and smiled brightly. 'What size are you?' She asked.

Lydia and Grace grabbed their skates, and then ushered Kurt and Blaine towards the counter to get their own.

Ten minutes later all four of them were on the ice. Lydia and Grace immediately skated over to the other side of the rink, away from Kurt and Blaine who both needed several moments to get used to the feeling. Their bodies weren't as young as they had once been.

'I haven't actually been ice skating since…' Kurt stopped his sentence short. Unsure of whether or not somehow that was crossing a boundary.

'Neither have I.' Blaine said.

Kurt glanced over to their daughters who were skating in a small circle talking.

'I have an idea.' He said.

'Ok…' Blaine went to move a little closer so Kurt could tell him, but he misjudged his centre of balance entirely and in almost slow motion felt himself begin to fall. He grabbed the closest thing to him, which happened to be Kurt, and the two of them went toppling down on the ice.

'Ow.' Kurt groaned, his body lying sideways across Blaine's. 'The ice is cold.' He had been wearing fingerless gloves and his hands hand landed firmly on the ice, the cold seeping in quickly.

'No kidding.' Blaine said, breathless from the blow. 'I think I just did permanent back damage.'

'Oh my God, are you ok?' Kurt propped himself up, taking as much of his body weight off Blaine as he could to look at the man.

'Just slowly going numb.'

'Ok, just… I'll get up and then help you.' It took him several attempts to find the right balance to get himself back onto two feet. By the time he had, Blaine was sitting up watching him in slight amusement. 'Yeah whatever, laugh away Anderson.' He grumbled, offering his hand out for Blaine to grip and pull himself up on. 'Are you sure you're ok?'

'I was only slightly kidding about the back.' Blaine said. 'Aside from the giant wet patch on my ass, I'm ok.'

Kurt laughed. 'That's what you get for being uncoordinated.'

'Hey, I used to be better at skating than you.'

'Age has caught up to you m'dear.'

Blaine paused for a second. Kurt blushed.

'I uh… sorry. I didn't mean, it just slipped out.'

'Don't sweat it.' Blaine said, but even he could hear the strain in his own voice.

Across the other side of the rink, Lydia and Grace were huddled, watching their fathers.

'Ugh, they make me want to puke.' Lydia groaned. 'So stupidly adorable and they can't even see it.'

'Well, if you're going to throw up, turn your head, because I don't it all over me.'

'I wish Mason wasn't coming tomorrow.'

'Maybe really deep down he is a good person, and on Christmas day he'll see what he's keeping apart and leave quietly.'

'Yeah, maybe really, really deep down. And only maybe. Besides, we just need to get Dad to see that Mason is a terrible person so he'll leave. He'll be heartbroken if Mason leaves him, but if he leaves Mason…' Lydia trailed off.

'Right, so, enter phase two?' Grace asked.

'Yeah…' Lydia said absently.

Grace followed her sister gaze over to her Dad and Blaine and grinned.

'There's another tradition that I feel like we could bring back for one night only.' Blaine said with a grin, having now found his footing and skating around Kurt.

'Oh? And what is that?' Kurt asked.

' _Rocking around the Christmas tree, at the Christmas part hop._ ' Blaine started singing softly.

Kurt rolled his eyes playfully. 'Our Christmas duet?' He asked.

Blaine nodded. ' _Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop_.'

' _Rocking around the Christmas tree, let the Christmas spirit ring_.' Kurt joined in, Blaine grin widened and the two of them started belting out the song, skating their way around the rink, and skating circles around their daughters trying to entice them to join in.

Eventually both girls did, laughing and rolling their eyes at their fathers' silly antics until the song came to a dramatic end and all of them ended the song laughing. And for a short moment in time, the four of them felt like the one family.

 


End file.
